ADULT

SABBATH SCHOOL

LESSONS

JAN FEB MAR 1995

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0 1991 Pacific Press Publishing Association 2404

Scripture references other than from the King James Version quoted by permission in this quarterly are as

follows:

Amplified. From the Amplified Bible. Old Testament copyright



1965, 1987 by the Zondervan

permission.

JPS. From the Tanakh—The Holy Scriptures according to the traditional Hebrew Text. Copyright 0

1988. The Jewish Publication Society.

1975, 1977. Used by permission.

NEB. From the New English Bible, copyright by the Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the

Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1961, 1970. Used by permission.

Used by permission.

Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All

rights reserved.

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Adult Sabbath School Lessons. (ISSN 8750-1988) (Standard Edition) Published quarterly by Pacific Press Publishing

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Adult Sabbath School Lessons (ISSN 8750-1988)/No. 399/January-March 1995.

Editorial Office

12501 Old Columbia Pike

Silver Spring, MD 20904

Principal Contributor

D. Arthur Delafield

Editor

Erwin R. Gane

Associate Editor

Lyndelle Chiomenti

Editorial Assistant

Sandra Blackmer

Art and Design

Lars Justinen

Pacific Press Coordinator

Jerry D. Thomas

The Adult Sabbath School Lessons

are prepared by the Department of

Church Ministries of the General

Conference of Seventh-day

Adventists. The preparation of the

lessons is under the general direction

of a worldwide Sabbath School

Lesson Committee, the members of

which serve as consulting editors.

The published lesson quarterly

reflects the input of the committee

and thus does not solely or necessar-

ily represent the intent of the authors.

The Great Love Lyric

The Suffering Son of God

God's Honor Roll

In the Beginning

God's Ten Eternal Principles

The Qualities That Qualify

The Keynote of Victory

Christ's Last Prayer

With His Disciples

The True Fast, the True

Restorers, and the True Sabbath

"When Shall These Things Be?"

The Gospel for the End-Time

God's Care in Storm and Stress

Contents

530"

2158`

11/95 91700-90 4— 11:

Gifford Memorial Hospital

In-patient Care Facility - Andhra Pradesh

Tamil Nadu Clinic

Thiruvayru

New Church Buildings

Throughout Division

Southern Asia Division

needs your prayers

and your offerings

this 13th Sabbath

to help with vital building projects.

THE YEAR OF THE

ADVENTIST WOMAN

One hundred and fifty years ago, devoted Seventh-day Adventist

women were at the center of the birthing process of this movement;

evangelizing, nurturing, prophesying, publishing, and playing a signifi-

cant role in developing the organizational structure of the church. The

most prominent of these women was Ellen Gould White, who wrote,

"When a great and decisive work is to be done, God chooses men

and women to do this work, and it will feel the loss if the talents of

both are not

combined."—Evangelism,

p. 469.

In 1995, our world church is focusing on the challenges and oppor-

tunities of today's Adventist women. Unlike the goals of secular femi-

nism, the goals of Women's Ministries encourage healing, spiritual

wholeness, vision, and expanded involvement.

Women's Ministries programs range anywhere from small groups

in local churches to Global Mission projects where whole congrega-

tions are raised up. They include scholarships and mentoring of young

women, instructing new members, spiritual retreats that fortify mem-

bers and bring the discouraged to a new commitment, and prayer

counseling. ("When a woman is in trouble, let her take her trouble to a

woman."—Evangelism,

p. 460.) Other programs include parenting semi-

nars, retreats that facilitate healing from abusive relationships, pro-

grams for single women and those who are "single again," and support

for persons whose stress-filled lives make balancing family, job, and

church responsibilities a meritorious achievement. In short, Women's

Ministries provides a network among four million women, making

them aware of new opportunities in which to participate, and occasions

to nurture and be nurtured.

Just as in Jesus' day when mothers trained future leaders at their

knee, and godly women clothed the less fortunate and served as church

leaders, judges, and shopkeepers, contemporary Adventist women are

eager to use their talents to the glory of God.

Speaking to her own gender, Ellen White wrote,

"We may do a

noble work for God if we will. Woman does not know her

power.... There is a higher purpose for woman, a grander destiny.

She should develop and cultivate her powers, for God can employ

them in the great work of saving souls from eternal

ruin."—Testi-

monies ,

vol. 4, p. 642.

The year 1995 is a salute to women's contributions to the growth

and development of the church, as well as a summons to fortify them-

selves spiritually and commit their talents to a finished work.

—Rose Otis

Meet the Principal Contributor

to This Quarter's Lessons

Twice retired, twice rehired, Elder D. A. Delafield continues to

serve the church. Presently he and his wife, Evelyn, are chaplains at the

General Conference complex in Silver Spring, Maryland. They were

first employed as missionaries to Hawaii in 1936 and are still active

after more than 50 years of service. Elder Delafield was broadcasting

on radio station KGU Hawaii Sunday morning, December 7, 1941,

when enemy planes attacked Pearl Harbor.

Elder Delafield has pastored eight churches, including Honolulu

Central and Phoenix Central. His service record reads: "Three years

Associate Speaker, Voice of Prophecy; 9 years Associate Editor,

Re-

view and Herald;

25 years Associate Secretary, Ellen G. White Estate;

12 years Coordinator, Retired Workers Affairs in North America."

The author of fifteen books and four adult Sabbath School quarter-

lies, Elder Delafield has written hundreds of articles for S.D.A. church

papers. His partner for 61 years, Mrs. Delafield served for many years

as chaplain at the Washington Adventist Hospital. They have two

children and five grandchildren.

Check with your local Adventist Book

Center for the companion book to the

Sabbath School lessons.

Introduction to

Great Chapters of the Bible

Some years ago G. Campbell Morgan, teacher extraordinary, authored

the book

Great Chapters of the Bible.

He examined 50 outstanding

segments of Scripture. The volume became popular immediately. He

explained in the foreword that he did not wish to compare these 50

chapters with others in the Bible. "No such comparison is intended," he

stated. "Every chapter or section of the Sacred Writings has its own

greatness. Nevertheless there are Chapters or Sections which stand out

in the appeal they make to the human heart."—(London: Marshall,

Morgan, & Scott Publishers, 1946), foreword.

We have elected to study 12 Bible chapters that have satisfied the

human needs of Christians everywhere. This quarterly will be a bless-

ing to people of all religions, even though it will have special signifi-

cance to Seventh-day Adventists who recognize their responsibility of

announcing to the world the three angels' messages of Revelation 14.

The 12 chapters examined follow a gospel pattern throughout. The

message of the first angel of Revelation 14, the everlasting gospel, is

paramount. The very first lesson is titled "The Great Love Lyric"

(1 Corinthians 13). The second lesson presents "The Suffering Son of

God" (Isaiah 53). This "good news" pattern flows throughout the series.

In the quality of content, these 12 golden chapters are eternal and

inexhaustible. They bear study and restudy. This quarterly presents

new approaches and new ideas to supplement the glorious array of

commentary already available on the subject. Ellen White wrote, "It

takes all of eternity to unfold the glories and bring out all the precious

treasures of the Word of God."--SDA

Bible Commentary, vol.

p. 919.

The great Teacher, Jesus Christ, brings His students over and over

the same ground until at last they understand the subject sufficiently to

reflect the wisdom and love of God obtained from Bible study. Things

new and old must be extracted from the gold mine of Scripture. There

may be nuggets in this quarterly that you may not have discovered

previously. You can reexamine with great profit those truths that you

have understood.

The psalmist wrote, "The words of the Lord are pure words: as

silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times" (Ps. 12:6). That

word

tried

means "refined." Silver refined in a furnace is purer. The

more we read the Word, the more luminous its message appears to us,

for it is, in the truest sense, "the purest truth."

Lesson 1



January 1-7

The Great Love Lyric

Sabbath Afternoon

READ FOR THIS WEEK'S STUDY: 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 27-31; 13:1-

13; 14:1.

MEMORY TEXT: "And now abide faith, hope, love, these

three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13,

NKJV).

KEY THOUGHT: In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul accents the exqui-

sitely beautiful element in Christian life—love, the precious and

indispensable love of God pervading human lives and portrayed in

behavior.

LOVE IS OUR INDIVIDUAL AND CORPORATE NEED. As

we read 1 Corinthians 13, we see to what heights an author may

climb when borne aloft by the Holy Spirit of God. Without love, the

Christian, who may receive many other gifts of God, is a pauper.

Someone has said, "Without love he [humanity] is a moral cipher, a

zero in the arithmetic of the ages." The energy and power in all of

God's rich endowments is love.

"The Lord desires me to call the attention of His people to the

thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians. Read this chapter every day,

and from it obtain comfort and strength. Learn from it the value that

God places on sanctified, heaven-born love, and let the lesson that it

teaches come home to your hearts. Learn that Christlike love is of

heavenly birth, and that without it all other qualifications are worth-

less."—Ellen G. White Comments,

SDA Bible Commentary,

vol. 6,

p. 1091.

Sunday



January 1

LOVE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT (1 Cor. 12:4-11, 27-31; 13:1;

14:1).

How would you explain the relationship between Paul's dis-

cussion of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 and his discussion of

love in 1 Corinthians 13?

In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul describes the many spiritual gifts with

which the Spirit had endowed the Corinthians. All the gifts of the

Holy Spirit were meant to enrich the believers "for the common

good" (1 Cor. 12:7, RSV). Paul did not want the Corinthians to lack

any gift (1 Cor. 1:7). But in the Corinthian church some were exercis-

ing gifts that the Holy Spirit had not bestowed. "Those who are

unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit" (1 Cor. 2:14,

RSV). Paul added, "I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but

rather as people of the flesh" (1 Cor. 3:1, RSV).

Unless the Spirit of God bestows and activates our gifts, we

cannot regard them as "spiritual" gifts, but as counterfeits. The gifts

that Paul lists in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 and verses 27-31 are always

bestowed and imparted by the Holy Spirit. Any attempt to use these

gifts apart from the Holy Spirit's action in our lives is an unloving

deed. "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not

love [imparted by the Spirit], I am a noisy gong or a clanging

cymbal" (1 Cor. 13:1, RSV).

What relationship do you detect between the love message of

1 Corinthians 13 and the warning about the incorrect use of

tongues in 1 Corinthians 14?

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul highlights the preeminent and most

effective gift of all—the love of God in the converted heart. All the

other gifts (more than 20 are mentioned in the New Testament) are

swallowed up in this heavenly love of God. But some of the Corinthians

were not allowing Spirit-directed love to control their speaking in

tongues. Thus their tongues speaking was not edifying to the church;

it was not Spirit directed.

For the Spirit-inspired use of tongues see Acts 2:4-12. What

change in the Corinthians' worship service did the Holy Spirit

wish to bring about? Was the exercise of the Spirit-directed gift

of tongues controllable by the speaker? 1 Cor. 14:6-12, 26-33.

(See the note in Further Study.)

Monday



January 2

PAUPERS WITHOUT LOVE (1 Cor. 13:1-3).

Name the five spiritual gifts mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians

13:1-3. What becomes of them in the absence of love?

The word

charity

is used eight times in the King James Version of

1 Corinthians 13—a word that today suggests pity, sympathy, and

relief for the underprivileged and poor. The Greek word means

"love." The Greek language has four verbs translated "to love" in

English. All four words appear in classical Greek, but the New

Testament uses only

phileo

and

agapao.

The New Testament uses

the noun

love (agape)

for the love God has for fallen man. Taking a

word that was little used in reference to human love, the New Testa-

ment writers infused it with new meaning; namely, God's love for

His earthly children.

How could you detect that a "Christian" speaker is not di-

rected by love? 1 Cor. 13:1. What should be the basis of the

evaluation?

A missionary put the first three verses of 1 Corinthians 13 into an

easy-to-understand paraphrase: "If I have the language perfectly and

speak like a native, and have not His love for them, I am nothing. If I

have diplomas and degrees and know all the up-to-date methods, and

have not His touch of understanding love, I am nothing. . . . If I have

all faith and great ideals and magnificent plans, and not His love that

sweats and bleeds and weeps and prays and pleads, I am nothing. If I

give my clothes and money to them, and have not His love for them,

I am nothing.

"If I surrender all prospects, leave home and friends, make the

sacrifices of a missionary career, and turn sour and selfish amid the

daily annoyances and slights of a missionary life, and have not the

love that yields its rights, its leisures, its pet plans, I am nothing.

Virtue has ceased to go out of me. If I can heal all manner of sickness

and disease, but wound hearts and hurt feelings for want of His love

that is kind, I am nothing. If I can write articles or publish books that

win applause, but fail to transcribe the Word of the Cross into the

language of His love, I am nothing."—Paul Lee Tan,

Encyclopedia

of 7,700 Illustrations

(Rockville, Md.: Assurance Publishers, 1985),

pp. 758, 759.

Tuesday



January 3

LOVELESS, FAITHLESS PROPHECY

(1 Cor.

13:2).

Bible prophets from Moses to John exhibited true, persistent faith

and abiding love. They bore the signature required to qualify as

God's true messengers. "Holy men of God spoke as they were moved

by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21, NKJV), and the love of God was

shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit bestowed on them.

True, sin may have marred their record, but their sins were forgiven,

and the habitual tendency of their lives was commendable in God's

sight.

How did Jesus indicate that we can identify false prophets and

teachers who are not controlled by love (1 Cor. 13:2)? Matt. 7:15,

20.

Love and faith in God are the acid tests of a prophet—the creden-

tials above all their other God-given gifts. Concerning Ellen G.

White, God's messenger to the remnant, A. G. Daniells wrote: "She

was uniformly pleasant, cheerful, and courageous. She was never

careless, flippant, or in any way cheap in conversation or manner of

life. She was the personification of serious earnestness regarding the

things of the kingdom. I never once heard her boast of the gracious

gift God had bestowed upon her, or of the marvelous results of her

endeavors."—The

Abiding Gift of Prophecy

(Mountain View, Calif.:

Pacific Press Publishing Assn., 1936), p. 368.

These warm elements of Christian character were a distinctive

trademark, without which Ellen White's prophetic ministry would

have amounted to little or nothing. All the Bible prophets measured

up to this standard.

Despite its great appeal, what must accompany love for it to be

functional? Gal. 5:6; 1 Thess. 1:3.

Preacher or prophet, social worker, dedicated lay person, or mar-

tyr for Christ! Is not Paul telling us that all spiritual gifts must be

immersed in faith and love in order to achieve God's purposes? If we

lack these gifts the luster is gone! In the end, nothing will prove

eternally efficient for good without them.

How does the life of Dorcas illustrate how Christ would have

us demonstrate love? Acts 9:36, 39. In what practical ways can

men, as well as women, follow Dorcas' example?

Wednesday



January 4

LOVE'S SIXTEEN PARTS (1 Cor. 13:4-8, 13).

How does Paul describe love's behavior as visible in the

Christian's life? 1 Cor. 13:4-8.

"In the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians the apostle Paul

defines true Christlike love. . . . This chapter is an expression of the

obedience of all who love God and keep His commandments. It is

brought into action in the life of every true believer."—Ellen G.

White Comments,

SDA Bible Commentary,

vol. 6, p. 1091.

Try to visualize a person who is always patient, kind, generous,

humble, courteous, good natured, forgiving, loyal to God, and will-

ing to accept His will. That Person is Christ! And He wishes to make

us like Himself (Gal. 2:20).

Count them; you will find colorful parts in the spectrum of love,

more than twice as many as the colors that emerge when white light

passes through a triangular

prism.

What sign of God's love and care for His people did He ap-

point in the heavens? Gen. 9:13-17; Isa. 54:9, 10.

"The bow represents Christ's love which encircles the earth, and

reaches unto the highest heavens, connecting men with God, and

linking earth with heaven.

"As we gaze upon the beautiful sight, we may be joyful in God,

assured that He Himself is looking upon this token of His covenant,

and that as He looks upon it He remembers the children of earth, to

whom it was given. Their afflictions, perils, and trials are not hidden

from Him. We may rejoice in hope, for the bow of God's covenant is

over us."—Ellen White Comments,

SDA Bible Commentary, vol.

p. 1091.

What word does John use to portray God? 1 John 4:8. Is Jesus

Christ also God? Heb. 1:8; John 1:1-3, 14. In whom is love

perfectly personified? John 14:6-9; Rom. 5:6-8.

Instead of the word

charity

(used eight times in 1 Corinthians

13, KJV) substitute the name of Jesus. Then substitute your

own name. How well do you do? Ask the following questions:

Am I patient with my family, with friends, with co-workers?

Am I kind and considerate with everyone? Am I ever rude or

rash? Do I believe the best about my acquaintances?

Thursday



January 5

LOVE, HOPE, AND FAITH SURVIVE (1 Cor. 13:8-11).

God will finally terminate some of His gifts (1 Cor.13:8-10).

Prophecy, knowledge, and tongues vanish away.

"Prophecies are done away in the sense that they are worked out to

fulfillment. Tongues as signs and methods of praise cease when the

necessity for such ends. Knowledge as enquiry is done away as it

merges into the knowledge of fuller revelation. All the things re-

ferred to are great things, and things that tend to edification, but

which cease when the edifice is completed."—G. Campbell Morgan,

Great Chapters of the Bible,

p. 254.

What did Paul do when he became a man? 1 Cor. 13:11, 12.

What promise of a better vision is given to God's people?

If you compare the knowledge of a little child with the knowledge

of a loving and wise parent, it will be easier to grasp the difference

between what is and what shall be when the Lord sets up His king-

dom.

"Ancient mirrors were made of polished metal and not of glass. It

was never possible to get distinct images. The word 'obscurely'

would be a better translation than 'darkly.' In this world there is only

an inadequate, imperfect, and partial view of things. Vision will be

much better on the other shore."—Kyle M. Yates,

Preaching From

Great Bible Chapters

(Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1957), p. 50.

Since we cannot take our imperfect gifts to heaven, what can

we take? Above all else, what gift will survive? 1 Cor. 13:13.

When he was young, Louis IX of France married Princess Marga-

ret of Provence. On his wedding ring was engraved: "God, France,

Margaret," and he used to say, "I have no love outside that ring."

This was the secret of his being known to history as Saint Louis.

Faith, hope, and love define the eternal bond that exists between God

and His people.

Imagine how perfect spiritual vision and perfect knowledge

and understanding will change our perspective and apprecia-

tion of other people. What instances can you recall in which

your respect for another person increased when you came to

understand that person better?

Friday



January 6

FURTHER STUDY:

Check the word

love

in your concordance.

Locate texts that demonstrate how love affects human relationships.

For example, "Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins"

(Prov. 10:12; see also 1 John 2:7-11 and Matt. 5:46). Study the word

love

as listed in the

Index to the Writings of Ellen G. White,

which

carries 22 full pages of references for that word.

Note:

First Corinthians 14:14 may be translated: "If I pray in a

tongue, my spirit [mind] prays, but my thought [meaning] is fruit-

less." The word

spirit

(Greek:

pneuma)

as used in the Greek Old

Testament (Septuagint; LXX) and in the Greek New Testament often

means "mind," or includes the mind. (See Ex. 28:3; Deut. 34:9;

1 Chron. 28:12; Job 20:3; Matt. 26:41; Rom. 1:9; 8:16; 1 Cor. 2:11.)

The word

mind

(Greek

nous)

often means "thought" or "meaning."

(See Isa. 40:13, LXX; Joshua 14:7, LXX; Rom. 11:34; 1 Cor. 1:10;

2:16.) The genuinely Spirit-filled Corinthians who spoke in tongues

understood what they were saying; their minds were operative. But

their thought or meaning was profitless, because no one else under-

stood—unless they or some other person interpreted the language.

The Spirit-filled speaker was not experiencing an uncontrollable

ecstatic state.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Is it easier to see ourselves or others as loving and lovable

people? If you can't love a person whom you can see, how can

you love God, whom you cannot see? Do you first tolerate

people or do you accept them completely as fellow humans

irrespective of race or religion? Why?

How have you chosen to apply 1 Corinthians 13 to your own

life? If we all applied Paul's meaningful admonition in

1 Corinthians 14:1, first part, how would our lives change?

How would the church change?

SUMMARY:

They who pursue money, and money alone, are chas-

ing fantasy—a mirage. They whose quest is for fame and fortune

sooner or later will find that it bursts like a bubble. They whose aims

are no higher than the body and its sensations will close their lives on

a bed of shame and pierce themselves through with heavy sorrows.

But they who seek to love in the highest sense will find it and glory in

it and grow into it increasingly.

Trophies in Mongolia

Robert S. Folkenberg

Nobel Mission

RN'

One of the lands that make up the "uttermost parts of the

earth" has moved a little closer to the rest of the Adventist world

recently, when the first believers in Outer Mongolia were bap-

tized.

Brad and Cathie Jolly and four student missionaries working

with them (Suzy Baldwin, Tamara Caldeira, Joanne Park, and

Julien Tristan), make up the Adventist work force in Outer

Mongolia. These dedicated young people minister in Mongolia

under the auspices of Adventist Frontier Missions, quietly plant-

ing the gospel in this previously unentered and politically closed

country.

Recently I joined the Jollys in Mongolia to celebrate the first

baptism of new believers in this corner of the world.

Friday evening about 45 Mongolian young people gathered

to celebrate the Lord's Supper. Davaakhuu (Dah-VAH-hu), one

of the two young women to be baptized the next day, spoke

about the meaning of Communion. Her joy in the Lord bubbled

out as she testified to her new-found assurance of salvation.

On Sabbath morning we met at an indoor swimming pool for

one of the most moving baptismal services I have ever attended.

We lifted the new members before God, pleading for the pres-

ence and power of the Spirit in their lives. Then I had the joy of

baptizing Davaakhuu and Inkhbayar (INK-by-ar) the first fruits

of the gospel in Mongolia. During the same ceremony we ac-

cepted a young man, Inkhtaivan (INK-ti-van), into fellowship

by profession of faith, bringing the number of Mongolian mem-

bers to three. It was just after noon, but the regular Sabbath

activities were just beginning! We began the three-hour Sab-

bath School and a one-and-a-half-hour church service. Most of

the presentations were led by the three new members and sev-

eral others who are studying with the Jollys. The light of God's

love now warms Mongolia with love and hope.

Newly baptized Davaakhuu

(left) and Inkhbayar rejoice in

their faith.

Robert S. Folkenberg is

General Conference president.

For Current Newsbreak, Call 1-800-648-5824.

Lesson 2



January 8-14

The Suffering Son of God

Sabbath Afternoon

READ FOR THIS WEEK'S STUDY: Isa. 52:13-15; 53:1-12.

MEMORY TEXT: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we

have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid

on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6).

KEY THOUGHT: The sacrificial death of the Servant-Messiah

has atoned for the sins of all human beings, rendering it possible for

God to make them right with Him.

THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS HAS MAGNETIC POWER.

Isaiah 53 has been described as "The Mount Everest of all Old

Testament prophecy concerning Jesus." If Isaiah had stood beneath

the cross of Christ, he could not have more effectively portrayed the

enormity of the sacrifice and the blessedness of its results.

Adam Clarke summarizes Isaiah 53: "In this chapter the

incarna-

tion, preaching, humiliation, rejection, sufferings, death, atonement,

resurrection,

and

mediation

of Jesus Christ are all predicted, together

with the prevalence of his Gospel, and the

extension

of his

kingdom

through all

ages."—Commentary

on Isaiah 53:12, p. 209.

"This chapter should be studied. It presents Christ as the Lamb of

God. Those who are lifted up with pride, whose souls are filled with

vanity, should look upon this picture of their Redeemer, and humble

themselves in the dust. The entire chapter should be committed to

memory. Its influence will subdue and humble the soul defiled by sin

and uplifted by self-exaltation."—Ellen G. White Comments,

SDA

Bible Commentary,

vol. 4, p. 1147.

Sunday



January 8

MESSIAH: GOD'S PRUDENT SERVANT (Isa. 52:13-15).

According to Isaiah 52:13, 14, what role was to characterize

the Messiah? What prophecy is made concerning His destiny?

In the book of Isaiah, the "servant" is sometimes the Messiah (Isa.

42:1-9; 49:1-7; 52:13-53:12), sometimes Israel (Isa. 41:8, 9; 43:1-

44:23), and sometimes Cyrus, the Persian monarch (Isa. 44:24-46:13).

Throughout Scripture, God's servants are those commissioned to

fulfill His special purposes in the earth. (See Rom. 1:1.) The servant

may be an individual or a nation. The passage we are studying (Isa.

52:13-53:12) predicts that the Servant-Messiah will fulfill God's

transcendent purpose in the earth. By suffering for all human sin, the

Messiah would provide salvation for every human being. Isaiah

introduces his discussion of the Messiah's suffering by speaking of

His subsequent exaltation. Isaiah 52:13 reminds us that Jesus has

been "exalted at the right hand of God" (Acts 2:33, RSV; compare

Phil. 2:9).

In Isaiah 52:14 the Messiah appears as the suffering servant.

Nowhere in Scripture is there a more vivid presentation of the ter-

rible physical effects of His bearing "our sins in his body on the tree"

(1 Peter 2:24, RSV). "This does not mean that he appears to be more

disfigured than other men, but that . . . he no longer resembled a man.

This is an extremely strong way of saying how great his sufferings

were."—Edward J. Young,

The Book of Isaiah

(Grand Rapids, Mich.:

Eerdmans, 1972), pp. 337, 338.

What does the Messiah do for the nations? What is their

reaction? Isa. 52:15.

"So will he sprinkle many nations" (Isa. 52:15, NIV). In the

ancient sanctuary services, the priests sprinkled the blood of the

sacrifices representing the Messiah; "how much more shall the blood

of Christ . . . purify your conscience from dead works to serve the

living God" (Heb. 9:14, RSV). The power of the blood of Christ

cleanses believing people of all nations from their sin. The Holy

Spirit reveals the mysteries of the gospel to their hearts (1 Cor. 2:9,

10). Those who do not believe will ultimately understand when they

are confronted by the returning King (Matt. 24:30).

Monday



January 9

RECEPTION OF THE SUFFERING MESSIAH (Isa. 53:1-3).

What answer would you give to the questions Isaiah asks? Isa.

53:1 (compare Luke 18:8).

There is an element of passionate yearning in these questions.

Jesus Himself dramatically expressed it: "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto

thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as

a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"

(Matt. 23:37).

Despite all the miracles He had performed, many people did not

believe Jesus was the Messiah. This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet

had predicted. John quoted Isaiah 53:1 (John 12:38). The people to

whom Jesus ministered could not grasp truth, because, as Isaiah had

predicted, "He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so

they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts"

(John 12:40, NIV, quoting Isa. 6:10). Understanding comes with

faith. Because many of Jesus' contemporaries refused to believe,

they could not see or accept the truth He shared.

What did the prophet mean when he described the human

Christ? Was Jesus' person not attractive? Was He unattrac-

tive—a physical weakling? Lacking in personality and charisma?

Isa. 53:1-3.

"These words do not mean that Christ was unattractive in person.

In the eyes of the Jews, Christ had no beauty that they should desire

Him. They looked for a Messiah who would come with outward

display and worldly glory, one who would do great things for the

Jewish nation, exalting it above every other nation on the earth. But

Christ came with His divinity hidden by the garb of humanity, unob-

trusive, humble, poor. They compared this man with the proud boasts

they had made, and they could see no beauty in Him. They did not

discern the holiness and purity of His character. The grace and virtue

revealed in His life did not appeal to them."—Ellen G. White Com-

ments,

SDA Bible Commentary,

vol. 4, p. 1147.

How do we discern the holiness and purity of Christ's char-

acter? How does the grace and virtue revealed in His life im-

press us? How does His unobtrusive style affect us?

Tuesday



January 10

WHAT THE MESSIAH HAS DONE FOR US (Isa. 53:4-10).

In what sense did Jesus bear our "griefs" (Isa. 53:4, KJV), or

"infirmities" (NIV)? Matt. 8:17.

Jesus bore our sicknesses or infirmities in the sense that He healed

the physically sick. Moreover, he took upon Himself our guilt and its

consequences (1 Peter 2:24)—separation from the Father, ultimate

spiritual and mental anguish, and the resulting physical suffering and

death on the cross.

Consider prayerfully what Christ has done for us: (1) borne our

griefs (Isa. 53:4); (2) carried our sorrows (verse 4); (3) stricken,

smitten of God and afflicted (verse 4); (4) wounded for our transgres-

sions (verse 5); (5) bruised for our iniquities (verse 5); (6) chastised

for our peace (verse 5); (7) suffered stripes (verse 5); (8) bore the

world's iniquity (verses 6, 8); (9) was oppressed and afflicted (verse

7); (10) brought to slaughter as a lamb (verse 7); (11) dumb before

His persecutors (verse 7); (12) taken from prison and judgment

(verse 8); (13) life taken (verse 8); (14) buried with the wicked and

the rich (verse 9).

Compare the Gospel account of Jesus' trial, suffering, and

death with Isaiah's predictions. Matt. 26:47-67; 27:1, 11-50, 57-

66.

The Saviour suffered alone. None of His followers defended or

championed His Messiahship. Consider, His griefs were not His

own. The infinite intensity of His suffering resulted from an act of

the Father, who suffered with the Son (2 Cor. 5:19): "The Lord has

laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6, NIV). "God made him

who had no sin to be sin for us" (2 Cor. 5:21, NIV; compare Isa.

53:10). Willingly the Son accepted the results of all human sin;

willingly, but with a breaking heart, the Father caused the Son to

endure those results.

"It is for thee that the Son of God consents to bear this burden of

guilt; for thee He spoils the domain of death, and opens the gates of

Paradise. . . . He, the Sin Bearer, endures the wrath of divine justice,

and for thy sake becomes sin itself."—The

Desire of Ages,

pp. 755,

756.

How would you describe your feelings at this sight of the

Deity suffering for your sin?

Wednesday



January 11

SATISFACTION AND VICTORY GUARANTEED (Isa. 53:11).

What brings satisfaction to God's suffering Son? Isa. 53:10, 11

(compare 1 Thess. 2:19).

"Ever before Him, Christ saw the result of His mission. . . . By

giving His life for the life of men, He would restore in humanity the

image of God. He would lift us up from the dust, reshape the charac-

ter after the pattern of His own character, and make it beautiful with

His own glory."—The

Ministry of Healing,

p. 504.

What does the death of the Servant-Messiah make possible for

believers? Isa. 53:11 (compare Rom. 5:17).

The New Jewish Publication Society translation of Isaiah 53:11

(second part) reads: "My righteous servant makes the many right-

eous, it is their punishment that he bears." The Hebrew verb

justify

is translated "makes righteous." (Compare also the NRSV and

the Amplified Bible. The Hebrew verb is causitive.) J. A. Ziesler

comments: "It is also possible that because of the vicarious action of

the Servant . . . they

are

righteous. . . . The Servant may be the cause

not of the accounting righteous, but of the actual being righteous, of

many."—The

Meaning of Righteousness in Paul

(Cambridge: Uni-

versity Press, 1972), p. 18.

Of the 41 instances of the verb

to justify (tsadaq)

in the Hebrew

Old Testament, there is none in which God declares righteous a

person who is not so. Quite the contrary, God says that He will not

justify the wicked, and He commands human judges to follow His

example. (See Ex. 23:7; Deut. 25:1; 1 Kings 8:32; Prov. 17:15; Isa.

5:22, 23.) But note that God does not justify the righteous person as a

meritorious reward for good ethical conduct.

He justifies a person

because of his or her covenant relationship with Himself that will be

expressed in good ethical conduct.

Justification is a legal declaration

of the transformation of heart brought about by covenant fellowship

with God.

In Isaiah 53: lithe Lord (the Messiah) justifies in the sense of

acquitting or declaring righteous those who have accepted His vicari-

ous sacrifice and have entered into personal fellowship with Him.

They are accounted righteous because the righteous Servant has

made them so. Not only did He bear their iniquity, but He made them

whole by healing them of their spiritual and ethical disease.

Thursday



January 12

REWARD OF HIS SACRIFICE AND INTERVENTION (Isa.

53:12).

How will Jesus share His reward with His people? How will

He divide "the spoil" with us? What makes all of this bestowal of

gifts possible? Isa. 53:12 (compare Rev. 7:9-17).

The Messiah could never receive "a portion among the great," nor

could He "divide the spoils with the strong" (Isa. 53:12, NIV) unless

He rose from the dead. The text implies the resurrection of Christ.

"And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in

your sins. . . . But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead"

(1 Cor. 15:17, 20, NIV).

The magnificent truth is that Christ shares His victory with His

believing people. "Assuredly, I will give him the many as his portion,

He shall receive the multitude as his spoil" (Isa. 53:12, JPS). For us

to be Christ's for eternity will be the greatest reward both for Him

and for us. (See Mark 10:28-31.)

Isaiah reiterated the basis of our salvation: "He poured out His

soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he

bore the sin of many" (Isa. 53:12, NIV; compare 1 Peter 3:18; Heb.

9:28; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). "Justice demands that sin be not merely

pardoned, but the death penalty must be executed. God, in the gift of

His only-begotten Son, met both these requirements. By dying in

man's stead, Christ exhausted the penalty and provided a pardon."

—Selected Messages,

book 1, p. 340.

How does the Messiah make the benefits of His sacrifice im-

mediately available to believers? Isa. 53:12 (last part).

Christ is our Mediator and High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.

(See 1 Tim. 2:5, 6; Heb. 7:23-27.) When at His ascension He began

His heavenly ministry of intercession for sinners, He poured out His

Spirit upon His people so that His indwelling presence would pro-

vide the enabling power for their victory over sin. (See Acts 2:37-39;

Rom. 8:1-4.)

Thus Isaiah 53 speaks of the death, burial, resurrection, ascension,

and heavenly intercessory ministry of Jesus Christ. Because of His

wonderful gift, all that sin has lost, Christ will restore.

How could you briefly explain to your neighbor the signifi-

cance of Christ's death? Perhaps you could rehearse your ex-

planation in Sabbath School class.

Friday



January 13

FURTHER STUDY: In Scripture Christ the Saviour is represented

as wonderful (Isa. 9:6); an unspeakable gift (2 Cor. 9:15); the captain

of salvation (Heb. 2:10); the power of God (1 Cor. 1:24); Emmanuel

(Matt. 1:23); the friend of publicans and sinners (Luke 7:34); the

great High Priest (Heb. 4:14); the Lamb of God (John 1:36); the Lord

our righteousness (Jer. 23:6); the Lord your redeemer (Isa. 43:14);

the Messiah (John 4:25, 26).

Read the following statements that speak of the gift of Christ's

righteousness to us:

"Abundant grace has been provided that the believing soul may be

kept free from sin; for all heaven, with its limitless resources, has

been placed at our command. We are to draw from the well of

salvation. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone

who believeth. In ourselves we are sinners; but in Christ we are

righteous. Having made us righteous through the imputed righteous-

ness of Christ, God pronounces us just, and treats us as just."

—Selected Messages,

book 1, p. 394.

"Christ has become our sacrifice and surety. He has become sin

for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Through faith in His name He imputes unto us His righteousness,

and it becomes a living principle in our life. . . .

Christ imputes to us

His sinless character and presents us to the Father in His own pu-

rity."—That

I May Know Him,

p. 302. (Italics supplied.)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Could Christ have saved us without the sacrifice He made?

Would it have been sufficient for Him merely to show how to

live and how to die? Why is the legal aspect of the atonement

vital to our salvation?

What is the main barrier to our being drawn to the Saviour? Is

it our own bad habits and character weaknesses? Is it the cross

that Jesus offers us to bear? What keeps people from coming

to Christ?

SUMMARY: Isaiah's prophecy in chapter 53 is the explosive reality

of God's truth about the mission of the coming Messiah. It blows to

fragments the Israelite conception of a war-hero Saviour who would

emancipate the captive Jews and destroy the power of Rome. And it

explodes the idea that humanity can be given salvation without a

substitutionary sacrifice. It presents instead the suffering Saviour

dedicated to bearing the sins of the whole world and thrilled to

bestow eternal life on those who accept Him.

Withal Mission

One Pastor, 1,030 Baptisms

Alejandro Bull&

Carlos Franca, a young pastor in the North Brazilian Union,

has not yet been ordained. However, during one year he led

1,030 persons to the Lord in the South American Division.

This young man has a special talent to organize and plan. He

has placed his life in God's hands, and through Him, Pastor

Franca has accomplished much in the three years since he began

working.

To reach people for Christ, Pastor Franca uses family-based

Bible study groups and baptismal classes. Some 300 informal

family groups study a series of Bible lessons called

La Verdad,

or "The Truth." Members work together to interest their neigh-

bors, family, and friends. In these informal groups, interested

persons have their first major contact with our message through

the Bible lessons.

After they finish the Bible lessons they are invited to attend

baptismal classes. In his district of 10 churches, Pastor Franca

conducted 30 baptismal classes for young people, adults, and

juniors in one year.

Pastor Franca held leadership training seminars for family

and baptismal study group leaders. He challenged and inspired

them, and then he placed the Bible lessons in their hands.

During the year he keeps busy visiting and encouraging the

groups. With special authorization of the church, he has bap-

tized his candidates. Early in the year he performed baptisms

weekly, but near the end of the year, he had to schedule bap-

tisms daily.

Today his district has grown from 10 to 29 churches, each

church adopting the family group and baptismal class method as

a permanent outreach feature.

Pastor Franca uses no complicated plans, no new or costly

methods. His method is simple and direct,

but the results are thrilling.

Alejandro Bullim is the Global Mission

coordinator for the South American Division.

January 15-21

Lesson 3

God's Honor Roll

Sabbath Afternoon

READ FOR THIS WEEK'S STUDY: Heb. 10:35-37; 11:1-40;

12:1, 2.

MEMORY TEXT: "These all died in faith, not having re-

ceived the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were

persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that

they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Hebrews

11:13).

KEY THOUGHT:

Faith in God, resulting in works acceptable to

Him, is an essential response for those preparing to be citizens of the

city Christ is preparing.

THE CONTEXT OF HEBREWS 11

enhances the enormous

significance of the chapter. Previous chapters emphasize that Christ's

death, resurrection, and heavenly ministry have replaced the Old

Testament sanctuary services. Through the blood of Christ we have

immediate access to the presence of God. Our past sins can be

forgiven. Christ gives us His perfection while we continue to grow in

holiness (Heb. 10:14). Amid the struggles of life our confidence in

Christ must remain unshaken (Heb. 10:35-39).

As an encouragement for us to persevere (Heb. 12:1, 2), the

Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 11, presents in 40 verses the stunning

exploits of faith in the lives of twelve Bible heroes and heroines

including Sara, the wife of Abraham, and Rahab, of Jericho. Five

stalwart warriors, as well as Samuel and the prophets, are given

honorable mention. Thousands of Christians have passed through the

pain of persecution. By faith they conquered, knowing that in later

generations men and women of faith also would be victorious.

Sunday



January 15

HOW TO OBTAIN A GOOD REPORT (Heb. 11:1-7, 39, 40).

The elders in Zion obtained a good report ("testimony," NKJV).

How did this come about? Through faith. The truly great men and

women of Bible times, and all time, have been champions of faith in

God and His Word. (See 1 John 5:4.)

What is faith said to be? Heb. 11:1. How does verse 3 illustrate

faith at work?

Hebrews 11:1 reads in the Amplified Bible: "Now faith is the

assurance (the confirmation, the title-deed) of the things [we] hope

for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of

their reality—faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the

senses."

"Faith is trusting in God—believing that He loves us, and knows

what is for our best good. Thus, instead of our own way, it leads us to

choose His way. In place of our ignorance, it accepts His wisdom; in

place of our weakness, His strength; in place of our sinfulness, His

righteousness. Our lives, ourselves, are already His; faith acknowl-

edges His ownership, and accepts its blessing. Truth, uprightness,

purity, are pointed out as secrets of life's success. It is faith that puts

us in possession of these."—The

Faith I live By,

p. 90.

As you read Hebrews 11:1-34, think of at least one act of each

of the saints that required heroic faith. Then identify some New

Testament believers (women and men) who could also qualify for

God's honor roll.

What did the works of Abel, Enoch, and Noah demonstrate?

Heb. 11:4, 5, 7. What kind of faith pleases God? Why? Heb. 11:6

(compare Gal. 5:6).

The great faith of men and women of the past manifested itself in

great deeds. Hebrews 11 illustrates James's point that living faith

always results in good works (James 2:14-26). The patriarchs were

accounted righteous, not because their works earned righteousness,

but because, having believed, they received the gift of God's right-

eousness as the inner power to serve Him.

If you don't have the kind of faith described in Hebrews 11,

how should you go about getting it? (See John 20:31.)

Monday



January 16

THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM AND SARAH (Heb. 11:8-19).

On Abraham's journey to Canaan, what prospect thrilled his

soul? Heb. 11:8, 9, 13-16.

How encouraging that Abraham's motivation in moving to Canaan

was not worldly wealth and control of real estate! His concern was to

show his complete trust in God, who was preparing for him a city

(verse 10), the "better country" (verse 16).

How did Abraham's faith in God's promises affect both his

standing with God and his spiritual state? Rom. 4:1-5; Gal. 3:6-9,

14. By what painful act did God ask Abraham to demonstrate his

standing and state? Heb. 11:17-19.

There can be no justification without faith. Abel trusted in the

blood of Christ and was accounted and made righteous. Enoch pleased

God by his faith attachment to Christ, and he walked with the Invis-

ible. In the eyes of a righteous God, Noah became heir of the right-

eousness that is by faith. Abraham was righteous in God's sight

because his faith worked, and he went out to the Promised Land not

knowing whither he went. Later he obeyed the divine summons to

offer his son as a sacrifice. His actions did not save his soul, but they

demonstrated the faith of a man accepted by God. We are justified by

faith alone, but we will be judged by our works, which represent God

at work in and through us (2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:12;

22:12).

What test of faith came to Sarah? Heb. 11:11, 12.

The miraculous birth followed the ordinary processes of childbearing:

conception, pregnancy, the birth of a son. It all happened through

Sarah's response of faith to God's command and promise. Sarah first

laughed at the idea of having a baby at the age of 90 (Gen. 18:9-15),

but when conception occurred and she began to show signs of

childbearing, her friends could exclaim, "Isn't it wonderful what God

can do for an old woman who has faith in Him!"

How valid is our claim to faith when we refuse to give up

something or someone God asks us to separate from?

Tuesday



January 17

FAITH EXPRESSED IN PROPHETIC UTTERANCES (Heb.

11:20-22).

faith Isaac blessed his twin sons concerning things to come

(Heb. 11:20). Esau's blessing is recorded in Genesis 27:38-40; Jacob's

blessing is recorded in Genesis 27:26-29; 28:1-5.

Considering the outrageous and deceptive behavior of Jacob

and the perverse nature of his brother, Esau, would you say that

either deserved a blessing from the Lord? Why? See Genesis 27

and 28. If Jacob was no more worthy than Esau, why did the

Lord favor him (Rom. 9:10-13)? Are we any more worthy of

God's favors? If not, why does the Lord bless us?

God's grace is larger than human failures. The blessings of Isaac

were really prophetic utterances of things to come. Isaac had faith

that the word of the Lord he proclaimed would come to pass, and it

did! Jacob's life changed for the better, while Esau remained ada-

mant in his pattern of evildoing, as the Lord had predicted. And

through Jacob, the seed of Isaac, came Jesus the promised Saviour.

How wonderful the providences and foreknowledge of God! (See

Rom. 11:33.) And how great the faith of Isaac!

Joseph asked his father, Jacob, to bless his two sons, Manasseh

and Ephraim, and he did so under prophetic inspiration (Gen. 48:11-

22). Jacob was 147 years old, a tottering elderly man, but his faith

was unmoved. He uttered prophetic blessings without wavering. He

knew that, in His own time, God would fulfill the predictions.

As Esau, the firstborn of Isaac, and Jacob exchanged places, in the

providence of God, so did Manasseh, the firstborn, with his brother

Ephraim. Esau and Manasseh would prove to be unworthy; Ephraim

and Jacob proved to be worthy. God knows what He is doing. Do you

ever question God's dealings in your life? Do you ever wonder how

things will turn out, considering all the problems? Faith enables us to

envision success while our humanity visualizes only failure.

Review other scriptures indicating that God uses godly people

who have faith as He unfolds future events through them:

Amos 3:7; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Luke 1:26-31, 39-45. The prophets

who received revelations from God were men and women of

faith.

Wednesday



January 18

MOSES, HIS PARENTS, AND RAHAB (Heb. 11:23-31).

Discuss the exploits of faith recorded in Hebrews 11:23-31.

How did faith enter the picture in each instance?

Moses' parents (verse 23)



Moses (verses 24-29)



Joshua (verse 30)



Rahab (verse 31)

Compare Moses' life of faith and self-renunciation with that

of our Lord Jesus. Compare Heb. 11:24-29 with Phil. 2:4-11.

"Moses was a type of Christ. As Israel's intercessor veiled his

countenance, because the people could not endure to look upon its

glory, so Christ, the divine Mediator, veiled His divinity with hu-

* manity when He came to earth. Had He come clothed with the

brightness of heaven, He could not have found access to men in their

sinful state. They could not have endured the glory of His presence.

Therefore He humbled Himself, and was made 'in the likeness of

sinful flesh' (Romans 8:3), that He might reach the fallen race, and

lift them

up."—Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 330.

What act of faith distinguished Rahab, the harlot, and with

what result? Heb. 11:30, 31; Joshua 2:1-18; 6:17-25.

What casual Hebrew observer would have detected the heart of

faith beneath the disguise of a prostitute! We look on the outward

appearance; God looks on the heart. Boaz, an ancestor of Christ, took

Ruth the Moabitess to be his wife. Boaz was the son of Salmon, "by

Rahab" (Matt. 1:5). Matthew states that Jesus descended directly

from Rahab, a reformed harlot, and Ruth, a Moabitess. The important

thing with God is the heart of faith. Glory is given to the Father and

the Son when lives are transformed by grace. We can only stand in

awe and wonder at what God can do when people believe and obey

Him!

What would it mean for you to bear your cross in life as

faithfully as Moses bore his?

Thursday



January 19

SIX HEROES OF FAITH (Heb. 11:32-40).

What common occupation distinguished the six heroes men-

tioned in Hebrews 11:32? Name two common traits of character.

What will these characteristics do for God's people today?

Are the experiences described in Hebrews 11:33-38 intended

to be purely historical? What application do these verses have for

God's last-day people?

In this chapter, faith shines like a jewel with many polished facets.

Twenty-two episodes gleam with the power and beauty of faith. Faith

is portrayed as an experience. Hebrews 11 reveals the principle that

God's Word was cherished more dearly than anything life could

bring to His faithful servants. Each situation, if studied in context,

demonstrates a test between God's will and someone else's will. This

honor roll shows that God does not forget His loyal subjects. Their

reward still awaits them and all others who place implicit trust in

their Creator and Redeemer.

What glorious cloud encompasses God's children? What three

things should we do? Heb. 12:1, 2. What is the secret of success?

Verses 2-4 (see also Heb. 11:39, 40).

"We are homeward bound. A little longer and the strife will be

over. May we who stand in the heat of the conflict, ever keep before

us a vision of things unseen—of that time when the world will be

bathed in the light of heaven, when the years will move on in

gladness, when over the scene the morning stars will sing together

and the sons of God will shout for joy, while God and Christ will

unite in proclaiming, 'There shall be no more sin, neither shall there

be any more death.' Forgetting those things which are behind, and

reaching forth unto those things which are before,' let us 'press

toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ

Jesus.' "—Ellen G. White (a message Ellen G. White placed in gift

copies of her books).

If a murderer and adulterer (David), a deceiver and liar

(Jacob), and a prostitute (Rahab) conquered their evil desires

by faith in God, is there hope for us? Why? Wherein lies the

victory? (See 1 John 5:2-5.)

Friday



January 20

FURTHER STUDY:

How would you explain Matthew 17:20 and

Mark 9:23? Under what circumstances are these promises fulfilled to

us? Read: "An Impressive Dream" in

Testimonies,

vol. 2, pp. 594-

597; "Faith and Acceptance" in

Steps to Christ,

pp. 49-55.

Hebrews 10:35-37 has special meaning for Seventh-day

Adventists.

As we face the future, increasingly aware of Bible

prophecy being fulfilled by events in the world and in the church,

what could be more reassuring? "Therefore do not throw away your

confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endur-

ance, so that you may do the will of God and receive what is

promised. Tor yet a little while, and the coming one shall come and

shall not tarry; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he

shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.' But we are not of

those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith

and keep their souls" (Heb. 10:35-39, RSV). Because Christ is com-

ing very soon, our faith in His appearing must grow stronger every

day.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:

Illustrate how you would distinguish between faith and pre-

sumption.

Is faith natural to our human nature like memory or judgment,

or is it a gift of God? (See Eph. 2:8.)

How can you tell how much faith you actually have?

If God's Word bids you live in a certain way and you offer

excuses or refuse, what is the real reason for your attitude?

The characters of Hebrews 11 overcame by faith. What would

hinder us from having our names registered in God's great

honor roll?

SUMMARY:

Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 11 provides

illustrations of how men and women of God in past ages held to the

faith steadfastly, though tried by persecution. Much of the Old Testa-

ment delineates exploits of faith that provide excellent models for us

in these last days of earth's history.



WNW Missies



KaFuMa



N;51



James H. Zachary

Brother Henderson had learned his lessons well. After six

weeks at the lay training school in Papua, New Guinea, he began

holding Bible studies. Each week this energetic layman hiked

eight kilometers (five miles) to lead a Bible study at KaFuMa.

This was the third new church that he had planted since he

completed his training.

Brother Henderson stood in front of a partly-completed jungle-

style church. More than 200 people sat on the ground, listening

to Henderson's lively presentation. The candidates for baptism

had built this sanctuary for the new congregation that would be

organized following their baptism. Candidates were Sabbath

School members for at least one year before they could be

baptized. This year would be spent establishing them in a new

life in Jesus.

The construction had been hard work. They cut poles from

the forest and gathered jungle vines to tie poles together. Next

they would construct the benches from similar poles, then gather

grass and dry it for the roof.

As the Bible study closed, we gathered around a table laden

with tropical fruits. As we ate, one of the tribesmen told me the

story of the new church.

"We are three clans living in this valley. Since the days of our

forefathers we fought and killed one another."

Another man joined in the conversation. Pointing to their

teacher, he said, "Then Henderson came. He invited us to study

the messages from the God in the sky. We have learned many

things from the holy book. We have accepted Jesus and his new

way of life."

The first tribesman continued, "Our three clans are friends

now. We are now one in Jesus," he said with a smile. "There

will be peace in this valley now. We will not fight anymore."

The tribes have named their new church

KaFuMa, taken from the first syllable of

each clan's name. Jesus transforms men

and women. An old way of life comes to

an end. KaFuMa testifies to that.

James H. Zachary is associate secretary of

the Ministerial Association at the General

Conference.

•

For Current Newsbreak, Call 1-800-648-5824.



Lesson 4



January 22-28

In the Beginning

Sabbath

Afternoon:

READ FOR THIS WEEK'S STUDY: Gen. 1:1-31; 2:1-4; Ps.

33:6-9.

MEMORY TEXT: "In the beginning God created the heaven

and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).

KEY THOUGHT:

God is the Creator and the Re-Creator. Just as

He created the world out of nothing, so He creates spiritual life for

human beings from a spiritual void.

GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE AND ITS INHABITANTS.

Genesis chapter 1 records that our world, with its plant life, animal

life, and human life, was created in six days. Some of the Bible

passages that refer to God's creative work are as follows:

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the

earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the

deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the

waters" (Gen. 1:1, 2, NASB).

"For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea

and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the

Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy" (Ex. 20:11, NASB).

"You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest

heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the

seas and all that is in them" (Neh. 9:6, NIV).

"In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the

heavens are the work of your hands" (Ps. 102:25, NIV).

"By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the

word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not

visible" (Heb. 11:3, NRSV).

Sunday



January 22

PLANET EARTH—GOD'S CREATION (Gen. 1:1, 2).

In what classic-but-simple language does the author of Gen-

esis describe the origin of our world and the heavens? Gen. 1:1.

"The work of creation can never be explained by science. What

science can explain the mystery of life?

"The theory that God did not create matter when He brought the

world into existence is without foundation. In the formation of our

world, God was not indebted to pre-existing matter. On the contrary,

all things, material or spiritual, stood up before the Lord Jehovah at

His voice and were created for His own purpose. The heavens and all

the host of them, the earth and all things therein, are not only the

work of His hand; they came into existence by the breath of His

mouth."—Testimonies,

vol. 8, pp. 258, 259.

God first invented or planned the universe. Then, by His miracu-

lous power, He put His plan into action.

How does "God the Lord" identify Himself? Isa. 42:5; 40:28

(compare Isa. 40:12-22, 25, 26).

God's work was to make tangible objects out of nothing, things

out of no thing. God changed the nature of physical elements when

He breathed life into Adam (Gen. 2:7). This requires the same divine

energy as to create the universe out of nothing. God also creates new

hearts in human beings; He re-creates. David prayed, "Create in me a

pure heart, 0 God" (Ps. 51:10, NIV). All of these creative acts are

miracles of which the divine Creator alone is capable.

Who was active in the creation of our world? Gen. 1:2; Ps.

104:30; John 1:1-4; Heb. 1:1, 2; Col. 1:15-17.

Just as all three Persons of the Godhead shared in the work of

Creation, all three are involved in re-creation. All three Persons of

the Godhead are interested in the redemption of lost man, his restora-

tion to the divine image. In this sense creation is still going on. The

creative energy and power of God is needed in every life every day.

Under what circumstances will God answer us when we

pray David's prayer recorded in Psalm 51:10? What is the role

of faith as we consider the Creation account and as we ap-

proach God for re-creation? (See Heb. 11:1-6.)

Monday



January 23

ORIGIN OF DAY AND NIGHT (Gen. 1:3-5).

What was the source of the light that illuminated the earth

during the first three days of Creation? Gen. 1:3-5 (compare Ps.

104:1-5). How does spiritual light come to sinful human beings?

John 1:9-13.

The Lord is the source of both natural and spiritual light. "For

God, who said, 'let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine

in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God

in the face of Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6, NIV). "God is light; in him there is

no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5, NIV).

Since we cannot explain Creation or any of God's miraculous

works (Rom. 11:33), why should we trust Him as the source of

truth and spiritual light? Isa. 50:7-10; Ps.

32:10.

How can we demonstrate from Genesis 1 and 2 that life as we

know it was not created over millions (or even billions) of years,

and that it did not evolve? Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31; 2:1-3

(compare Ex. 20:8-11).

"The days of the Bible's Creation account signify literal 24-hour

periods. Typical of how the Old Testament people of God measured

time, the expression 'the evening and the morning' (Gen. 1:5, 8, 13,

19, 23, 31) specifies individual days with the day beginning at evening,

or sunset (see Lev. 23:32; Deut. 16:6). There is no justification for

saying that this expression meant one literal day in Leviticus and

thousands or millions of years in Genesis.

"The Hebrew word translated day in Genesis 1 is

yom.

When

yom

is accompanied by a definite number, it always means a literal, 24-

hour day (e.g. Gen. 7:11; Ex. 16:1)—another indication that the

Creation account speaks of literal, twenty-four-hour days."

—Seventh-day Adventists Believe

(Hagerstown, Md.: Review and

Herald, 1988), p. 71.

If each day preceding the Sabbath was a long period of time, the

Sabbath must have been also. But the Sabbath commandment in-

structs that the seventh-day Sabbath be observed, "for in six days the

Lord made the heavens and the earth" (Ex. 20:11; compare 31:17).

Because the Sabbath is a 24-hour period, so are the days of Creation

week that the Sabbath memorializes. (See

Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 112.)

Tuesday



January 24

THE FIRMAMENT, THE SEA, AND THE DRY LAND (Gen.

1:6-13).

What is the firmament? Gen 1:7, 8 (compare the use of the

word in verses 14, 15, 17, 20; Ps. 19:1).

How did the Lord work in arranging the surface of the earth?

Gen. 1:9, 10.

In Genesis 1:6-10 we see the bountiful Divider at work. First He

divides night from day; then He divides the waters on the earth from the

clouds and vapors above the earth. Thus there is created the vast expanse

of the sky, or the firmament. Here God anticipates a magnificent habitat

for the fowls of the air. Our atmosphere comes into being, which the

astronauts tell us wraps our earth in a cocoon of blue. The firmament

consists of air. Sufficient space exists for birds to fly and, in our time, for

jet planes to streak across the skies. Then comes the gathering together of

waters, creating seas. Then dry land appears.

What occurs next in the unfolding drama of Creation? Gen.

1:11, 12.

God gave names to the elements of His creation on days one to

three: Light equals day; darkness equals night; firmament equals

heaven; water equals sea; land equals earth. On the sixth day Adam

gave names to the living creatures upon the earth.

From what source did Adam draw to frame appropriate names for

both fauna and flora? How could this be when Adam had little time

to study or premeditate? And what about noxious plants?

"Not one noxious plant was placed in the Lord's great garden, but

after Adam and Eve sinned, poisonous herbs sprang up. In the par-

able of the sower the question was asked the master, `Didst not thou

sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?' The

master answered, 'An enemy hath done this' (Matt. 13:27, 28). All

tares are sown by the evil one. Every noxious herb is of his sowing,

and by his ingenious methods of amalgamation he has corrupted the

earth with

tares."—Selected Messages,

book 2, p. 288. (See

Temper-

ance,

p. 75.)

What is the difference between the way we treat noxious

plants in our gardens and the manner in which we treat "tares"

in the church? (See Matt. 13:30.)

Wednesday



January 25

THE FOURTH DAY (Gen. 1:14-19).

Since the firmament refers to the atmospheric heavens, how

can we explain Genesis 1:14, 17?

"The expression that they [sun, moon, and stars] are set in the

firmament, or expanse of heaven, is chosen because it is there that

the earthly inhabitant sees them."—SDA

Bible Commentary, vol. 1,

p. 212.

When were the stars created? Gen. 1:16 (last part).

"He made the stars also.

The words, 'he made,' have been

supplied. As to the origin of the stars two principal views have been

set forth: (1) The stars were brought into existence during creation

week, along with the sun and moon. (2) The 'stars,' though created

earlier, are here mentioned, in passing, by Moses, inasmuch as he is

discussing the luminaries of the heavens. The first view necessitates

the conclusion that prior to creation week the vast universe was an

empty void. This conclusion seems unwarranted.

"However, on this as on many other cryptic declarations of Scrip-

ture regarding God's mysterious acts, we should be slow to dogma-

tize. We should not forget that the primary truth Moses sought to

present in regard to the origin of the sun, moon, and stars is that all

are the result of God's creative power. Here is a further refutation of

the ancient but ever-recurring heresy of the eternity of matter."

—SDA Bible Commentary, vol.

1, p. 213.

Why did people begin to worship the heavenly bodies? What

were the results of sun worship in Israel? 2 Kings 21:3, 5; Jer.

8:1, 2.

The idolatry of worshiping the heavenly bodies denied the Lord's

claims and requirements. The Lord warned His people of the dire

results of worshiping the sun, moon, and stars (Deut. 4:19, 24).

Scripture sometimes presents the sun and light as symbols of

Christ. (See Mal. 4:2; John 8:12; Rev. 21:23.) Excluding Him from

our lives by substituting things or persons as objects of our adoration

is idolatry as objectionable to God as was that of our ancestors.

What other objects of God's creation has Satan transformed

into objects of worship?

Thursday



January 26

CREATOR VERSUS CREATURE WORSHIP (Gen. 1:20-25).

How did God arrange for birds, fish, and animals to repro-

duce only within their basic types? Gen. 1:20-22, 24-25.

The laws of genetics were implanted into each living creature by

God Himself. The obvious divine intention was that each broad kind

of animal should reproduce others of the same kind with only minor

variations within the basic type. Birds and animals do not evolve into

other kinds of life. Cats do not become dogs; fish do not become land

animals. Moreover, there is no evolution from lower to higher forms

of life.

How would you describe the human beings who came forth

from the hand of the Creator? Gen. 1:26-28; 2:7, 18, 21-25.

"God created man in His own image. Here is no mystery. There is

no ground for the supposition that man was evolved by slow degrees

of development from the lower forms of animal or vegetable life.

Such teaching lowers the great work of the Creator to the level of

man's narrow, earthly conceptions. Men are so intent upon excluding

God from the sovereignty of the universe that they degrade man and

defraud him of the dignity of his origin. . . . Man was to bear God's

image, both in outward resemblance and in

character."—Patriarchs

and Prophets,

p. 45.

What has happened to the noble being God created? Eccl.

7:29; Rom. 5:12-21; 7:14, 15, 18, 19. The tendency throughout

history has been for humans to substitute creature-worship for

Creator-worship. What have been the dire results? Rom. 1:21-

32.

What perpetual memorial of Creation did God give as a bar-

rier against false modes of worship? Gen. 2:1-3.

If humans had faithfully observed the Sabbath, there would have

been no idolatry. False systems of worship would never have arisen,

and substitutes for the Sabbath would have been rejected. The

seventh-day Sabbath that God instituted at Creation and that Christ

observed while on earth (Luke 4:16; Matt. 24:20) was designed to

keep human beings in close fellowship with their Creator.

Friday



January 27

FURTHER STUDY:

Study John 1:1-3, 14; Rom. 1:20; Col. 1:12-

17; Rev. 4:11; 14:6, 7; "The Creation" in

Patriarchs and Prophets,

pp. 44-51;

"Science and the Bible" in

Education,

pp. 128-134.

"Seventh-day Adventists believe God is Creator of all things, and

has revealed in Scripture the authentic account of His creative activ-

ity. In six days the Lord made 'the heaven and the earth' and all

living things upon the earth, and rested on the seventh day of that

first week. Thus He established the Sabbath as a perpetual memorial

of His completed creative work. The first man and woman were

made in the image of God as the crowning work of Creation, given

dominion over the world, and charged with responsibility to care for

it. When the world was finished it was 'very good,' declaring the

glory of

God."—Seventh-day Adventists Believe,

p. 68.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

How does a strict belief in a literal Creation affect one's belief

in Christ and the power of His word?

If one believes the view that humanity's development sprang

from lower forms, with God guiding the process, what is the

effect upon one's understanding of Scripture? For example,

how does the fall of humanity into sin relate to this view?

What is the significance of the Sabbath, if this view is held?

If God, the Creator, is all-powerful, can He not create a world

in a split-second of time? Why did He take six days and nights

to create our world and its first inhabitants?

How would you explain to a nonbelieving friend that the

observance of the seventh-day Sabbath contributes to faith in

the Genesis 1 account of Creation?

SUMMARY:

The creation of the world and all things in it was the

work of the Creator-God, who made many things out of nothing. It

was fiat-creation. "For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded,

and it stood firm" (Ps. 33:9, NIV). Not only mighty life-giving

power, but His love and wisdom were on display before the universe.

In a week's time the glorious earth appeared with the seventh-day

Sabbath to memorialize it, and man and woman upon it to exercise,

under God, sovereign rights over all the creation.

Mobil

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

At a recent youth congress in Romania, a young man related

this testimony:

)

One day when I was 8 years old I went with my father to his

work as a builder. He was working near a fenced-in field of flax

where women from a nearby prison were working.

Soon I became bored and wandered toward the fenced field.

I began to pretend I was conducting a church service. I sang

songs and preached a sermon to an imaginary audience.

Unknown to me, one of the women prisoners was watching

me. When I saw her I became frightened. But she asked softly,

"Are you a Christian?"

"Yes," I answered.

"Sing more," she said. I sang for her, then told her the story

of the prodigal son and how Jesus died on the cross for us. She

began to cry and told me her child had died and that she had

been blamed for its murder. She asked me to wait while she

brought a friend. When she returned with her friend she asked

for more songs and stories. They listened eagerly, then asked

me to return to the fence the next day. They also asked me to

bring them a Bible.

The next day they were waiting at the fence when I arrived.

They had brought other women and even a guard. I told them

more stories about the love of Jesus. Then I quickly slipped the

woman the New Testament that my father had given me.

I returned to the fence several more days, but the women's

work was done, and they never returned.

Several years passed, and as a young man I was going from

door to door inviting people to a Revelation Seminar. At one

house the woman invited me in. She began to tell me about the

first time she heard about the love of Jesus.

As I listened to her story, I realized this was the same woman

who had heard my sermon in the flax field years earlier! When I

told her that I was that boy, she excitedly ran from the room,

returning with the now-worn New Testament I had given her!

She told me of five other women who had been converted in

that prison because of my witness.

This woman attended every meeting of the Revelation Semi-

nar, and when it was over she declared, " 'As for me and my

house we will serve the Lord' (Joshua 24:5)."

Sermon in the Flax Field

Lesson 5



January 29-February 4

God's Ten Eternal

Principles

Sabbath Afternoon

READ FOR THIS WEEK'S STUDY: Ex. 19:1-25; 20:1-26.

MEMORY TEXT: "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice

indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar

treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine"

(Exodus 19:5).

KEY THOUGHT: God's eternal law of love (James 2:8-12)

attracts us to the love and justice of the Lawgiver Himself.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS ARE A PERPETUAL RE-

MINDER. Maxie D. Dunnam recounts that, during the days of the

American gold rush, a young man's bride became ill and died before

they could reach Fort Kearney in Nebraska. Heartbroken, the young

man took her body to the highest hill and buried it, using the wagon

bed to make a coffin. He drove down some wooden stakes to mark

the grave, thinking that he would go on West and come back later.

But he could not go on. He went back to St. Louis, Missouri, where

he had a stonecutter prepare a tombstone engraved with the name

"Susan Hale." Not able to persuade anyone to haul it to Nebraska for

him, he put the stone in a wheelbarrow, and pushed it all the way to

Fort Kearney, where he set it up on her grave.

"Thus it is with Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments. The

Ten Commandments have been set up for us so that we will never

forget the importance of some things. We keep coming back to them,

for they speak to us of eternal truths and values."—Maxie D. Dunnam,

The Communicator's Commentary: Exodus

(Waco, Tex.: Word Books,

1987), pp. 249, 250.

Sunday



January 29

THE SETTING FOR THE PROCLAMATION OF GOD'S LAW

(Ex. 19:1-25).

In the third month after the Exodus from Egypt the multitudes of

Israel arrived at Mount Sinai and camped there (Ex. 19:1, 2). God

called Moses up into the mount to receive instruction (verse 3).

What words of covenant relationship did the Lord give Moses

for the elders and the people? Ex. 19:3-6. How did the people

respond? Verses 7, 8. Do you think they meant what they said?

Were they able to keep their covenant promise? Why? See Heb.

8:6-12; Rom. 8:3, 4.

The same covenant promises God offered Abraham, He offered to

his descendants at Sinai. (See Gen 17:7, 9, 19; Gal. 3:15-17.) But the

people's response was faulty; their hearts were not in their words.

The Lord said to Moses, "0 that there were such an heart in them,

that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always"

(Deut. 5:29; compare Heb. 8:8-10).

"The covenant that God made with His people at Sinai is to be our

refuge and defense. . . . This covenant is of just as much force today

as it was when the Lord made it with ancient Israel."—Ellen G.

White,

The Southern Watchman,

March 1, 1904.

What terrifying experience followed? Ex. 19:16-25 (compare

Heb. 12:18-21). Why did God give Israel this dramatic display of

His power and majesty? Deut. 4:9-16.

"So terrible were the tokens of Jehovah's presence that the hosts

of Israel shook with fear, and fell upon their faces before the Lord.

Even Moses exclaimed, 'I exceedingly fear and quake.'

"—Patri-

archs and Prophets,

p. 304.

God's presence on the mount was glorious and spectacular. The

people froze with fear at the sight. Boundaries had been set to keep

man and beast at a safe distance from the sacred ground of Mount

Sinai, made holy by God's presence. Now the Lord was ready to

announce His holy law. First He gained their attention by the spec-

tacular display of power. Then in a voice like thunder He proclaimed

His Ten Immortal Words.

What is the significance for us of the words of reassurance

with which the Lord began His proclamation (Ex. 20:2)? See

Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 305.

Monday



January 30

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT (Ex. 20:3).

Who is the great "I AM" of Exodus 20? Ex. 3:14; John 8:57, 58

(compare 1 Cor. 10:4;

The Desire of Ages,

p. 307).

In Exodus 20:1, 2, Yahweh, or Jehovah God, who is Christ Jesus

of the New Testament, is saying in substance: "I delivered you from

Egyptian bondage and so if you trust Me I will likewise deliver you

from the bondage of sin, from the idolatry of violating the first table

of My law and from the inhumanity involved in breaking the second

table. All My biddings are enablings." (See

Christ's Object Lessons,

p. 333.)

What two divine principles summarize the first four com-

mandments and the second six commandments? Matt. 22:34-40

(compare Deut. 6:4-6; Lev. 19:18).

What is taught by the very first commandment in God's law?

Ex. 20:3; 1 Cor. 8:4.

"Jehovah, the eternal, self-existent, uncreated One, Himself the

Source and Sustainer of all, is alone entitled to supreme reverence

and worship. Man is forbidden to give to any other object the first

place in his affections or his service. Whatever we cherish that tends

to lessen our love for God or to interfere with the service due Him, of

that do we make a

god."—Patriarchs

and Prophets,

p. 305.

The Bible teaches that there is only one true God—the Creator

God. (See Isa. 45:18.) Satan weaned the affections of nearly the

whole world away from the true God and set up his own deities.

Scripture names at least 17 false gods, among whom were Baal-Peor

(Moab, Num. 25:1-3), Dagon (Philistia, 1 Sam. 5:1-3), Ashtoreth and

Milcom (Canaan, 1 Kings 11:5), and Bel (Babylon, Jer. 50:1-3).

Elijah's contest with the prophets of Baal was a classic demon-

stration of God's power and the impotence of the so-called deities set

up by the evil one. (See 1 Kings 18:17-39.)

Name at least five objects or gods worshiped in modern

society. From your own experience, how would you suggest to

someone who asks the best means of resisting and overcoming

these modern gods? What god(s) do you need to overcome?

Tuesday



January 31

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT (Ex. 20:4-6).

Note how the second commandment amplifies the first. Ex.

20:4. What reason does God give for obedience to the second

commandment? Ex. 20:5, 6 (compare verses 22-26).

"The second commandment forbids the worship of the true God

by images or similitudes. Many heathen nations claimed that their

images were mere figures or symbols by which the Deity was wor-

shiped, but God has declared such worship to be sin. The attempt to

represent the Eternal One by material objects would lower man's

conception of God. The mind, turned away from the infinite perfec-

tion of Jehovah, would be attracted to the creature rather than the

Creator. And as his conceptions of God were lowered, so would man

become

degraded."—Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 306.

The one true God is able to act—to punish those who spurn His

love and to bless those who cherish it. False gods have no such

power.

Jealousy can be a bad character trait. Yet God is a jealous

God. Explain. Ex. 34:12-15 (compare James 4:4).

Scripture often represents the relationship between God and His

people as a marriage. An earthly bridegroom genuinely loves his

bride and has no desire to share her intimate affections with anyone

else. Just so God loves His people infinitely and is deeply hurt when

they are untrue to Him. In this sense He is jealous of His people's

affections. (See Jer. 6:2;

Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 306.)

Modern gods are not made of wood and stone, but of film,

printers' ink and paper, metal and wire, buttons and fuses. They may

also be actors and athletes, dictators, and night-club personalities.

Jesus warned against the lust of these things. Things and people can

become our gods: dress, automobiles, houses, lands, admired per-

sons. Humanity is hailed as god. People live and move, talk and cry,

dance and play, murder and rob, commit adultery and behave with

gross indecency on stage and TV screen. And many viewers are

slaves to these idols.

What deliverance from evil practices occurred at Ephesus?

Acts 19:18-20. Is idolatry going on in your life and home? How

can the great I AM—Jesus—save us from these things? (See

1 John 5:18-21; 2:15-17; Heb. 7:25.)

Wednesday



February 1

REVERENCE AND WORSHIP OF GOD (Ex. 20:7-11).

What does the third commandment mean? What is involved in

taking the Lord's name "in vain" (Ex. 20:7)? Lev. 19:12; Matt.

5:34-37 (compare Lev. 24:10-16; Isa. 29:23).

"This commandment not only prohibits false oaths and common

swearing, but it forbids us to use the name of God in a light or

careless manner, without regard to its awful

significance."—Patri-

archs and Prophets,

p. 306.

"Holy and reverend is his name" (Ps 111:9). We should call upon

the name of God when we pray, testify, or witness. When we pray we

ask favors of God in Jesus' name. The seraphim, the highest of the

angels, sing with reverent praise, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God

Almighty" (Rev. 4:8) and they never tire of joyful praise.

What does the content of the Sabbath command reveal re-

garding its importance? Ex. 20:8-11. How should the Sabbath be

observed? Isa. 58:12-14. What does our weekly Sabbath observ-

ance signify? Ex. 31:13, 16, 17.

"The Sabbath is not introduced as a new institution but as having

been founded at creation. It is to be remembered and observed as the

memorial of the Creator's work. Pointing to God as the Maker of the

heavens and the earth, it distinguishes the true God from all false

gods. All who keep the seventh day, signify by this act that they are

worshipers of Jehovah. Thus the Sabbath is the sign of man's alle-

giance to God as long as there are any upon the earth to serve Him.

The fourth commandment is the only one of all the ten in which are

found both the name and the title of the Lawgiver. It is the only one

that shows by whose authority the law is given. Thus it contains the

seal of God, affixed to His law as evidence of its authenticity and

binding

force."—Patriarchs and Prophets,

p. 307.

God has given us six days to work, asking that we refrain from

work on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a special day of communion

with our Maker. Any interruption of that communion, allowing our

minds to dwell on secular matters is desecration of the Sabbath. Jesus

taught that caring for the sick and other acts of necessity on the

Sabbath are acceptable. (See Mark 2:23-3:6.)

What blessings have you found in Sabbath observance? What

has it done for your physical and spiritual life?

Thursday



February 2

SIX LAWS GOVERNING HUMAN RELATIONS (Ex. 20:12-17).

Each of the Ten Commandments implies a positive spiritual

imperative. What is the deep spiritual meaning of the last six

commandments (Ex. 20:12-17)?

(See

Patriarchs and Prophets,

pp. 308, 309.)

Commandment 5:

"Honor your father and your mother, that your

days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you"

(Ex. 20:12, RSV). Compare Mark 7:8-13.

Commandment 6:

"You shall not murder" (Ex. 20:13, NIV).

Compare Matt. 5:21-26.

Commandment 7:

"You shall not commit adultery" (Ex. 20:14,

NIV). Compare Matt. 5:27-30; Rom. 1:24, 25; Eph. 5.3.

Commandment 8:

"You shall not steal" (Ex. 20:15, NIV). Com-

pare Mal. 3:8; Prov. 11:1; 16:8; 21:6; 22:16; Jer. 17:11.

Commandment 9:

"You shall not give false testimony against

your neighbor" (Ex. 20:16, NIV). Compare Ex. 23:1; Prov. 19:9.

Commandment 10:

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house.

You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or

maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your

neighbor" (Ex. 20:17, NIV). Compare Luke 12:15; Col. 3:5.

How is it possible for a born-again believer to keep these

moral precepts? Rom. 8:3, 4; John 15:7, 10.

"Though Christ is

said

to have

fulfilled the law

for us, yet it is

nowhere intimated in the

Scripture

that he has so fulfilled these ten

laws, as to exempt us from the necessity and

privilege

of being

idolaters, swearers, Sabbath-breakers, disobedient and cruel chil-

dren, murderers, adulterers, thieves, and corrupt witnesses. . . . It is

therefore readily granted that no man

unassisted

and

uninfluenced

the

grace

of Christ can keep these commandments, either in the

letter

or in the

spirit;

but he who is truly converted to God, and has Christ

dwelling in his heart by faith, can, in the

letter

and in the

spirit,

do all

these things, because Christ strengthens

him."—Adam

Clarke, A

Commentary and Critical Notes

(New York: Lane and Sandford,

1843), vol. 1, p. 407. Italics in original. (See Eze. 36:24-27.)

Friday



February 3

FURTHER STUDY: Study Ex. 34:1, 2, 27-29; Matt. 5:17-20; Rom.

3:31; 7:7; 8:3, 4; James 2:10-12. Read "The Law Given to Israel" and

"Satan's Enmity Against the Law" in

Patriarchs and Prophets,

pp. 303-314; 331-342.

God's character revealed in the Ten Commandments may be sum-

marized in ten words that touch our own experience as Christians: (1)

faith, (2) truth, (3) reverence, (4) obedience, (5) respect, (6) love, (7)

purity, (8) honesty, (9) truthfulness, and (10) contentment.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

What 10 words might represent Satan's evil substitute for the

ten principles stated in the Ten Commandments?

Why did Jesus come to earth to fulfill the Law perfectly? Why

does He expect us to emulate Him? (See Rev. 3:21; 1 John

3:4-9; 5:18.)

What means of grace provided in the gospel make loyalty and

obedience to Christ a reality?

A friend asks how you can reconcile the negative commands

of the Ten Commandments with the law of love given in the

Sermon on the Mount. How would you answer?

SUMMARY: "The great principles of God's law are embodied in

the Ten Commandments and exemplified in the life of Christ. They

express God's love, will, and purposes concerning human conduct

and relationships and are binding upon all people in every age.

These precepts are the basis of God's covenant with His people and

the standard in God's judgment. Through the agency of the Holy

Spirit they point out sin and awaken a sense of need for a Saviour.

Salvation is all of grace and not of works, but its fruitage is obedi-

ence to the Commandments. This obedience develops Christian

character and results in a sense of well-being. It is an evidence of

our love for the Lord and our concern for our fellow men. The

obedience of faith demonstrates the power of Christ to transform

lives, and therefore strengthens Christian

witness."—Fundamental

Beliefs,

no. 18, in

Seventh-day Adventists Believe,

p. 232.

."651t.



610b11 Alaska

‘

;51ifiV

Sudanese Youth Do "Impossible"

Berhane Woldemariam

Most of Sudan's 27 million inhabitants are Muslim. Until

recently, the Adventist church barely had a toehold there. Work

has been slow among the Sudanese, who are caught up in a war

that has displaced one out of 15 countrymen.

During 1993, the Year of Youth Evangelism, leaders of the

Sudan Field challenged the youth to see what they could do for

God. "Nobody ever told them it would be difficult," Sudan Field

president Berhane Woldemariam said. "They just went out and

did it." And in this difficult field that has only two ordained

ministers, the youth are showing the rest of us what can be done

with youthful energy and imagination.

Young people went out into the streets of Khartoum and

neighboring towns to hold Voice of Youth meetings. Through

drama and sermon they attracted crowds of up to 300. They

collected names of interests and followed up with studies. From

these meetings young people of South Sudan baptized 95.

The youth were so encouraged they conducted a second pro-

gram in another area, and another 40 were baptized. This is in

one of the most difficult areas in the Middle East Union to win

converts. Difficult? Impossible? Nobody told the young people.

Twelve teams of two are stationing themselves around Sudan

to witness to people seeking for a better way. Each team is

studying with 20 to 40 people and forming churches.

The fields of the Middle East Union had set a goal of 150

baptisms for the youth during the Year of Youth Evangelism.

During the first half of 1993, the youth registered 287 baptisms.

Throughout the Middle East, faithful members work quietly

under adverse conditions to spread the gospel. During 1992, 20

people were baptized into fellowship in Iraq. We do not hear

about them because of the sensitive nature of the work there, but

God hasn't forgotten, and

believers around the world

are praying for them.

Sudanese young people

preach in the streets of

Khartoum.

Berhane Woldemariam is

president of the Sudan Field.

For Current Newsbreak, Call 1-800-648-5824.

Sabbath Afternoon

READ FOR THIS WEEK'S STUDY: Matthew 5.

Lesson 6



February 5-11

The Qualities That Qualify

MEMORY VERSE: "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your

heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48, RSV).

KEY THOUGHT: Jesus taught that the great qualification for

entrance into the kingdom of heaven is righteousness (Matt. 5:20;

25:46)—righteousness which God gives freely to those who plead

for it (Matt. 5:6). This gift empowers believers to fulfill the spirit of

God's law as Jesus outlined it in the Sermon on the Mount.

CHRIST'S KINGDOM IS SPIRITUAL. Matthew 5, the first

segment of Jesus' "inaugural address," the Sermon on the Mount,

provides a clear and correct view of the spiritual nature of our Lord's

kingdom. He called it "the kingdom of heaven." The nation Israel,

chosen by Heaven to represent God and His laws to the world, was a

theocracy. Though there was an earthly king, God was the absolute

monarch. God expected the king, elders, and judges to administer His

laws. But all the kings of Israel and most of the kings of Judah broke

the covenant relationship with the Lord. Many severed their connec-

tion with Heaven by becoming idolaters. The monarchical theocracy

came to an end with Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. But God had

promised that the kingdom established by David would not cease.

The Messiah would come and sit upon the throne of David, establish-

ing a spiritual kingdom. Jesus Christ is to govern as King in the lives

of all who accept His principles and choose to follow Him.

Sunday



February 5

THE BLESSED PEOPLE IDENTIFIED (Matt. 5:1-12).

Describe the circumstances and venue for Jesus' famous dis-

course. Matt. 5:1, 2.

By the sea, seated on a mountainside, Jesus taught His disciples

and the multitude the spiritual qualities possessed by the subjects of

His kingdom. (See

The Desire of Ages,

p. 298.)

Jesus uttered nine blessings (Matt. 5:3-12). After reading the

references given below, how would you describe the people whom

Jesus regards as members of His spiritual kingdom?

(See

Thoughts

From the Mount of Blessing,

pp. 6-35.)

The "poor in spirit" (Matt

5:3):

By contrast with those who

think they are "rich, and increased with goods" (Rev. 3:17), they

sense their total dependence upon Christ.

"They that mourn" (Matt. 5:4).

God comforts those who mourn

the loss of loved ones and those who mourn the sins that crucified the

Son of God. (See Luke 18:13.)

"The meek" (Matt.

5:5).

These are not weak, cowardly, fearful

people, but are as Jesus was, patient, gentle, and humble in the face

of unjust treatment. (See Phil. 2:5-7.)

"Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" (Matt. 5:6,

RSV).

Recognizing their own unrighteousness, they plead that Christ's

righteousness will be counted for them and bestowed upon them.

(See Rom. 4:5; 8:9, 10.)

"The merciful" (Matt. 5:7).

They show compassion for others

and willingness to forgive those who have wronged them. (See Job

29:12-16; Matt. 18:21, 22.)

"The pure in heart" (Matt. 5:8).

"In one who is learning of

Jesus, there will be manifest a growing distaste for careless manners,

unseemly language, and coarse

thought."—Thoughts From the Mount

of Blessing,

pp. 24, 25.

"The peacemakers" (Matt. 5:9).

The person at peace with God

(Rom. 5:1) will diffuse a spirit of peace and harmony between hu-

mans and with Christ. (See Micah 5:7; James 3:17, 18.)

The "persecuted for righteousness' sake" (Matt. 5:10).

They

share Christ's sufferings (1 Peter 2:21) and depend solely upon His

sustaining grace (2 Cor. 12:9).

"When men shall revile you" (Matt. 5:11).

They are blessed

because their characters remain steadfast when their reputations are

slandered. (See James 5:10.)

Monday



February 6

THE SALT, THE LIGHT, AND THE LAW (Matt. 5:13-26).

With what two things from nature did the Lord illustrate the

vitality of a Christian's witness? Matt. 5:13-16. How would you

apply Jesus' words to yourself?

As salt gives savor, or taste, to the food it permeates, so Christians

pervaded by the love of Christ disseminate love and hope to those

around them. "Without a living faith in Christ as a personal Saviour it

is impossible to make our influence felt in a skeptical world."

—Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing,

p. 37. As believers receive

Christ, "the light of the world" (John 8:12), into their hearts, they

impart this light to others.

Did the coming of Jesus to earth destroy the law or establish

it? How did Jesus fulfill the law? Matt. 5:17-20.

"I have not come to do away with them [God's laws]" (Matt. 5:17,

Twentieth Century New Testament) or "to annul them" (Weymouth).

Many New Testament passages emphasize that God's moral law

of Ten Commandments is the standard of righteousness for the Christian

believer. (See Rom. 3:31; 7:7, 12, 14; 8:3, 4; James 2:10-12.) Jesus'

life is the ultimate standard of righteousness because He did as Isaiah

had predicted: "He will magnify the law, and make it honourable"

(Isa. 42:21).

Our righteousness can exceed the righteousness of the scribes and

Pharisees (Matt. 5:20) only as we allow Christ, by the Holy Spirit, to

write the principles of the law upon our hearts. (See Phil. 1:11; Rom.

10:5-10.)

How did Jesus magnify the law regarding murder? Matt. 5:21,

22; 1 John 3:11-18.

"One who becomes a party to the least injustice is breaking the

law, and degrading his own moral nature. Murder first exists in the

mind. He who gives hatred a place in his heart is setting his feet in the

path of the murderer, and his offerings are abhorrent to God."—The

Desire of Ages,

p. 310.

Rather than hating others, we should seek to become reconciled to

them (Matt. 5:23-26).

Tuesday



February 7

ABOUT ADULTERY AND DIVORCE (Matt. 5:27-32).

Explain why Jesus categorized the lustful look as adultery

(Matt. 5:28). Matt. 15:19. How do you understand the striking

figures of speech Jesus used, recorded in Matthew 5:29, 30.

Sexual impurity is in the mind and the heart before it is put into

action. (See Job 31:1.)

"Near the close of this earth's history Satan will work with all his

powers in the same manner and with the same temptations wherewith

he tempted ancient Israel just before their entering the land of prom-

ise. He will lay snares for those who claim to keep the command-

ments of God, and who are almost on the borders of the heavenly

Canaan. He will use his powers to their utmost in order to entrap

souls, and to take God's professed people upon their weakest points.

Those who have not brought the lower passions into subjection to the

higher powers of their being, those who have allowed their minds to

flow in a channel of carnal indulgence of the baser passions, Satan is

determined to destroy with his temptations—to pollute their souls

with licentiousness."—Ellen G. White,

Testimonies on Sexual Be-

havior,

p. 84.

Explain Jesus' teaching about putting away one's wife. Matt.

5:32.

"Putting away" was common among the Jews; they could put

away their wives for any reason whatsoever. But Jesus was con-

cerned for women divorced by selfish husbands. He indicated that no

man has a right to put away his wife unless she has been unfaithful to

him. He then declared that the man who marries the divorced woman

commits adultery. A woman who is put away for immorality and

marries another commits adultery. On the other hand, if the husband

or wife has maintained an adulterous relationship and puts away his

or her innocent partner, the innocent one is free to marry again.

Thank God that forgiveness, restoration, and renewal are available

for adulterers.

Are the teachings of Jesus on divorce and remarriage still

applicable today? If not, why not? In respect to the divorce of

certain believers, how can we avoid criticism and a "holier than

thou" attitude?

Wednesday



February 8

ABOUT OATH TAKING AND VIOLENCE (Matt. 5:33-42).

What kind of oath taking is unacceptable? Matt. 5:33-37.

An oath is unnecessary unless, of course, one is called before a

court to give testimony. Then an oath to tell the truth is proper. Jesus

Himself took an oath when He appeared before Caiaphas (Matt.

26:62-67).

When we were children, we might have reinforced a statement

with some kind of oath. When older, we might say, "I'll swear it's

true on a stack of Bibles." All of this is inappropriate and unneces-

sary. Truth is its own defense and does not need an oath for support.

Do you find yourself falling back on oath taking to support

your word? If so why?

"We are all conscious of the value of simplicity in speech, even

though we may not always practice it. When one says, in order to

produce conviction in another, 'I will take my oath that it is so,'

doubt is immediately created in the mind of the one to whom the

thing is said. The taking of an oath always postulates the possibility

of deceit."—G. Campbell Morgan,

Great Chapters of the Bible,

p. 123.

What is better than "an eye for an eye"? Matt. 5:38-42 (com-

pare Deut. 32:35; Rom. 12:19).

Here actions are described that are better than revenge or retalia-

tion. Some think that of all the teachings of Jesus this quintet of

commands is the hardest to obey. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

"He who is imbued with the Spirit of Christ abides in Christ. The

blow that is aimed at him falls upon the Saviour, who surrounds him

with His presence. Whatever comes to him comes from Christ. He

has no need to resist evil, for Christ is his defense. Nothing can touch

him except by our Lord's permission, and 'all things' that are permit-

ted 'work together for good to them that love God.' Romans 8:28."

—Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing,

p. 71.

Why does it seem so difficult to return good for evil? Are we

happier returning good for evil, or evil for good? Which is

more satisfying?

Thursday



February 9

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF (Matt. 5:43-48).

Why should we love our enemies? What are the advantages to

us of loving them? Matt. 5:43-47.

There was no counsel in Moses' law to "hate" anyone, but in

Deuteronomy 23:6 God forbade the children of Israel to ever seek the

peace or prosperity of the Moabites. Why? Because they had sought

Balaam' s aid in cursing Israel. (Compare Lev. 19:17, 18.)

The enemies of the church sometimes have interpreted Christian

love, longsuffering, and good will as weakness and cowardice. But

what is Jesus' example?

Love your enemies:

The scribes and Pharisees were committed

by envy and clerical pride to murder Jesus, and they poisoned the

minds of the populace against Him. But Jesus loved them still.

Bless them that curse you:

Jesus' persecutors and executioners

were the objects of His dying prayer, "Father, forgive them; for they

know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

Do good to them that hate you:

When the Jews again and again

sought to entangle Jesus in His speech and to charge Him falsely with

violating Roman or Jewish law, His penetrating replies, full of wis-

dom and love, exposed their hypocrisy and strikingly revealed His

divinity. He would do them good in spite of their evil designs.

Pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you:

Jesus spent entire nights in prayer for His disciples and for the

leaders of Israel.

What is the ultimate goal set before us? Matt. 5:48.

Jesus' concept of perfection involved a relationship with God that

manifests itself in the loving attitudes toward others of which He

spoke in the Sermon on the Mount.

"The conditions of eternal life, under grace, are just what they

were in Eden—perfect righteousness, harmony with God, perfect

conformity to the principles of His law. The standard of character

presented in the Old Testament is the same that is presented in the

New Testament. This standard is not one to which we cannot attain.

In every command or injunction that God gives there is a promise,

the most positive, underlying the command.

God has made provision

that we may become like unto Him, and He will accomplish this for

all who do not interpose a perverse will and thus frustrate His

grace."—Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing,

p. 76. (Italics sup-

plied.)

(I)

Friday



February 10

FURTHER STUDY:

Read Luke 6:19-49; 17:20, 21. Also read "The

Sermon on the Mount," in

The Desire of Ages,

pp. 298-314. (See the

comments in

Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing,

pp. 6-78.)

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:

Analyze the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Is it long or

short by modern standards? Time your reading of it. For

whom did Christ intend it? Do you think Christ could be heard

clearly in an open-air arena? Matt. 5:1, 2. Did He teach or

preach? Matt. 5:2; 7:29.

Blessed

and

happy

are words equal in meaning. Explain how

humility, mourning, and persecution can coexist with happi-

ness.

Does Jesus' discourse magnifying the law of God make you

feel uncomfortable? Matt. 5:17-44. In what ways? How may

we relate to His inspired teaching? How is it possible to obey

Him and enjoy being like Him?

Discuss the command "Be ye therefore perfect" (Matt. 5:48).

The Greek word translated "perfect" in the KJV may be ren-

dered "mature." Is sin ever an evidence of maturity? What are

Jesus' expectations for us?

"As God is perfect in His sphere, so man may be perfect in

his

sphere."—Testimonies,

vol. 8, p. 64. "He is a perfect and

holy example, given for us to imitate. We cannot equal the

pattern, but we shall not be approved of God if we do not copy

it and, according to the ability which God has given, resemble

it."—Testimonies,

vol. 2, p. 549.

SUMMARY:

The Master Teacher describes the character of the

people who make up His spiritual kingdom. The contrast between

Jesus' kingdom of grace and virtue and the kingdom expectation of

His contemporaries is marked and painful. But the humble, faithful

follower of Jesus is encouraged and challenged, while the devotee of

ritual, form, and ceremony is alarmed and rebellious. Not the clash-

ing of arms and emancipation by force, but the deliverance of the

soul from the mastery of sin, is accomplished by the Lord Jesus

Christ. Even today the Sermon on the Mount creates division be-

tween two types of professed Christian, those who worship God in

spirit and in truth and those "having a form of godliness, but denying

the power thereof" (2 Tim. 3:5). In which group do you find your-

self?

Champion Surrenders to Christ

Syd Kettner

Mabel Missies

55FR

My name is Eva Martinovska (Martin-OV-skah). I am 18

years old and live in the city of Most, in the Czech Republic. I

am a champion runner. I hold the Czech record in the 800-meter

race and have won that event many times in international com-

petitions. I was preparing for the Olympics when God changed

my life. If someone had told me a year ago that sports would not

be first in my life, I would have laughed.

I am studying medicine at the university, so when I saw a

notice about lectures on preventive medicine that were part of

evangelistic meetings, I decided to attend. During the health

lectures, the doctor discussed how our bodies function in such

marvelous ways. I began to realize that life consists in more than

sports. As he presented Christ as Creator and Healer, I felt a

yearning to know more about Jesus. I began listening to the

evangelist with interest. As my understanding of God and His

claims on my life became clearer to me, I wrestled with conflict-

ing desires—my love for sports and the call of Jesus in my heart.

After struggling for weeks, I took a stand for Christ and

began studying for baptism. I realized then that if I followed

Christ I would have to give up my competitive sports career,

because most athletic competitions are on Sabbath. As the bap-

tism drew near, the tension became unbearable. I asked God for

courage to make the right decision. My coach did not under-

stand my dilemma, and even my family seemed unable to help

me. Finally, following a difficult spiritual struggle, I was bap-

tized in March 1993.

God has given me wonderful peace. Without His help, and

the understanding of my new Christian friends, I could not have

made this difficult decision. I thank God for His guidance and

for the wonderful people I have met since becoming an Adventist.

Dr. Syd Kettner, a physician living in Creston, British Columbia,

Canada, conducted the health lectures that Eva Martinovska attended

in Czechoslovakia.

For Current Newsbreak, Call 1-800-648-5824.



Lesson 7



February 12-18

The Keynote of Victory

Sabbath Afternoon

READ FOR THIS WEEK'S STUDY: 2 Peter 1:1-21.

MEMORY TEXT: "His divine power hath given unto us all

things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowl-

edge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue" (2 Peter

1:3).

KEY THOUGHT: Knowing Christ means receiving His divine

power for deliverance from evil passions and for constant spiritual

growth in preparation for His glorious second advent.

CHRIST IS OUR ROCK OF SUPPORT. A group of student

singers were on board a ship that caught fire. One young man fixed a

life-belt to his wife and another to himself, but in the scuffle to

abandon ship someone took his wife's life-belt. After jumping over-

board she found herself helpless in the water. She clung to her

husband's shoulders as long as she could, but her strength began to

wane. "I can't hold on any longer," she cried. "Try a little longer,"

was his entreaty. And then he added, "Let us sing 'Rock of Ages.' "

They both began to sing faintly, and others around them, strug-

gling to stay afloat, joined in the song. Strength seemed to come with

the song. They were able to hold out until a boat arrived and lifted

them on board.

The message of 2 Peter 1 is this: Through the undergirding power

of Christ, we resist the impact of the swirling confusion and impurity

around us. By this means we can hold on till our Lord returns and

transports us to eternal safety.

Sunday



February 12

ABUNDANT GRACE FOR CHRISTIANS (2 Peter 1:1-4).

To whom does Peter direct his second Epistle? What do the

writer and the believer have in common? 2 Peter 1:1.

"To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through

the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:1,

NRSV). Christ imparts the faith that lays hold upon His righteous-

ness. Then Christ Himself, our God and Saviour, becomes our ever-

present righteousness. There is a commonality of experience in re-

ceiving Christ's gift of righteousness by faith. Peter enjoyed this gift,

and so did the people to whom he wrote both his Epistles (2 Peter

3:1)—the believers of Asia Minor (1 Peter 1:1).

What special gifts did Christ impart to the believers as they

came to know Him? What are the results when His promises are

received and believed? 2 Peter 1:2-4.

"The word here used for 'knowledge'

(epignosis)

is more em-

phatic than the simple noun form

(gnosis),

and implies a fuller, more

perfect knowledge that comes from contemplation of the object stud-

ied. Such knowledge cannot fail to influence the life of the one who

gains it. When it centers on the Father and the Son it brings abundant

grace and peace into the heart of its possessor. The apostle is very

much aware of the efficacy of this

epignosis,

and refers to it four

times in his epistle (here; vs. 3, 8; ch. 2:20)."—SDA

Bible Commen-

tary, vol.

7, p. 596.

When God's grace is multiplied to us, it consists of the divine

power that provides us "all things that pertain to life and godliness"

(2 Peter 1:3, RSV). Paul thanked God for the grace given to the

Corinthians by which they were "enriched in every way—in all . . .

speaking and in all . . . knowledge" (1 Cor. 1:5, NIV; compare 1 Cor.

15:10; 2 Cor. 8:9; 9:8; 12:9).

God's promises are acts of grace. By accepting these promises by

faith we "escape from the corruption that is in the world because of

passion, and become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4,

RSV). The divine nature pervades our lives, and we have the power

to resist corruption and overcome the temptation to evil.

Can you testify to the power of Christ in delivering you from

the power of sin? How has your knowledge of, and faith in, the

Word of God contributed to that victory?

Monday



February 13

GROWING IN GRACE (2 Peter 1:5-11).

What qualities does Peter urge us to make every effort to

develop by faith in Christ? 2 Peter 1:5-7.

Peter is not suggesting that we develop these qualities in chrono-

logical sequence, working on a new virtue when we have sufficiently

mastered the previous one. If we did that, love would come last.

"You are not to think that you must wait until you have perfected

one grace before cultivating another. No; they are to grow up to-

gether, fed continually from the fountain of charity [love]; every day

that you live, you can be perfecting the blessed attributes fully

revealed in the character of Christ; and when you do this, you will

bring light, love, peace, and joy into your homes."—Ellen G. White

Comments,

SDA Bible Commentary, vol.

7, p. 943.

When we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, we receive all

of Him, all of His virtues—not one at a time. The eight virtues

mentioned by Peter are resident in Jesus. But these gemstones of

character, which become ours when we receive Him as Lord and

Saviour, are polished by experience and testing. Each day lived in

relationship with Christ adds luster to these gemstones. Faith grows

stronger, knowledge increases, patience develops, brotherly love and

charity blossom to the full.

How is the person described who lacks these eight virtues?

2 Peter 1:8, 9. How can we make our "calling and election sure"?

Verse 10, KJV. What precious promises are given us? Verses 10,

11.

We have the assurance of present salvation in Christ as, by faith,

we experience fellowship with Him and allow His grace to foster the

spiritual virtues that Peter has mentioned. If we neglect daily dedica-

tion to and communion with Christ, we will be spiritually "ineffec-

tive or unfruitful" (2 Peter 1:8, RSV), and will fall back into our old

sins (verse 9). The vigilant Christian enjoys the, gift of eternal life

(1 John 5:11-13) and has the assurance of "an entrance into the

eternal kingdom" (2 Peter 1:11, RSV).

Peter counsels us to "be the more zealous to confirm your

call and election" (2 Peter 1:10, RSV). The statement implies

personal effort. How can you reconcile this counsel with the

truth that salvation is only by faith?

Tuesday



February 14

STIRRING UP THE MEMORY (2 Peter 1:12-15).

Why does Peter not hesitate to remind his readers of things

they already know? 2 Peter 1:12, 13, 15 (compare Luke 22:32;

John 21:15-17).

As a faithful shepherd of the flock, Peter knew that all believers

need to be constantly reminded of the gospel truth they already

know. C. S. Lewis wrote, "Christ did not come to preach any brand

new morality. The Golden Rule of the New Testament (Do as you

would be done by) is a summing up of what every one, at bottom, had

always known to be right. . . . The real job of every moral teacher is

to keep on bringing us back, time after time, to the old simple

principles which we are all so anxious not to

see."—Mere Christian-

ity

(London: Collins, 1958), p. 74.

What is the significance of the expression "the present truth"

(2 Peter 1:12)?

"The truth that has already reached you" (NEB); "the truth that

[you] now [hold]" (Amplified); "the truth that has come to you"

(NRSV). Present truth for the early Christians included all Bible

truth, most prominent of which was the passion of Christ, including

the glorious doctrine of the resurrection. Christ announced it (John

2:19-22), and the apostles proclaimed it (Acts 2:23, 32).

Present truth today includes all of the above with emphasis on the

Second Advent prophecies that were not unsealed until the "time of

the end" (Dan. 12:9), and the messages of the pre-Advent judgment

and the Sabbath that for centuries had not been clearly understood

(Rev. 14:6-12).

What is the significance of the fact that Peter expected his life

to end in the near future? 2 Peter 1:14; John 21:18-23.

Peter did not expect to live on until the second advent of Christ,

and John did not rule out the possibility of his death before that

event. In its context, 2 Peter 1:14 underlines Peter's great concern to

remind the believers of the truths they had accepted. Because his

death was imminent, he wanted to provide the church with written

testimony that would speak until Jesus comes.

Wednesday



February 15

PETER RECALLS AN EYEWITNESS EXPERIENCE (2 Peter

1:16-18).

Why did Peter make reference to a particularly dramatic

event in Jesus' life? 2 Peter 1:16-18; Matt. 17:1-8.

The word "For" introducing 2 Peter 1:16 links what follows with

what has gone before. There are compelling reasons why the be-

lievers should be reminded of Christ's power to enable them to grow

spiritually. One very good reason is that God demonstrated the deity

of Christ to Peter, James, and John in the miraculous transfiguration

experience. Peter resorts to the testimony of the senses—sight and

hearing—as another strong argument in favor of Jesus' messiahship,

His divinity. The great truth of Christ's resurrection power was no

cunningly devised myth. Believers in every age can have confidence

that what the apostles saw and heard is convincing evidence.

How do we know that the transfiguration of Christ was a pre-

enactment of His glorification at the Second Coming? 2 Peter

1:16, 17 (compare Mark 9:1 with verses 2-8; compare Luke 9:27

with verses 28-36).

"Moses upon the mount of transfiguration was a witness to Christ's

victory over sin and death. He represented those who shall come

forth from the grave at the resurrection of the just. Elijah, who had

been translated to heaven without seeing death, represented those

who will be living upon the earth at Christ's second coming, and who

will be 'changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last

trump'; when 'this mortal must put on immortality,' and 'this cor-

ruptible must put on incorruption.' 1 Cor. 15:51-53. Jesus was clothed

with the light of heaven, as He will appear when He shall come 'the

second time without sin unto salvation.' For He will come 'in the

glory of his Father with the holy angels.' Heb. 9:28; Mark 8:38. The

Saviour's promise to the disciples was now fulfilled. Upon the mount

the future kingdom of glory was represented in miniature—Christ the

King, Moses a representative of the risen saints, and Elijah of the

translated ones."—The

Desire of Ages,

pp. 421, 422.

Peter lived and worked with Christ and witnessed His trans-

figuration. We have not had those experiences. Why, then,

should we accept Peter's experience as evidence of the deity of

Christ and of His second coming?

Thursday



February 16

THE CERTAINTY OF THE PROPHETIC WORD (2 Peter 1:19-

21).

What testimony of God could be more powerful than the

transfiguration of Christ, which Peter witnessed? 2 Peter 1:18,

19.

"And we have the prophetic word made more sure" (2 Peter 1:19,

RSV). "And we have the word of the prophets made more certain"

(NIV). The apostles had the witness of their own senses; they knew

Christ personally and received repeated evidence of His messiahship.

But the manner in which His life, death, and resurrection fulfilled the

Old Testament prophecies was equally convincing, and to Peter's

readers even more convincing. In their witnessing for Christ, the

apostles constantly applied Old Testament prophecies to Him. (See

Acts 2:22-36; 3:18; 4:10, 11, 23-28.)

To us today, Bible prophecy is compelling evidence of the deity of

Christ and of the great significance of His atoning sacrifice and

resurrection from the dead. But fulfilled prophecy also increases our

confidence in the forecasts of the future given by Jesus (Matthew

24), Daniel, John, and other prophets. The fact that Daniel accurately

foretold the sweep of human history from his day to ours (Dan. 2:14-

45) gives us confidence that his predictions of events future to our

day will certainly be fulfilled.

In the interpretation of scriptural prophecy, what must we

avoid? 2 Peter 1:20. How were the prophets guided in their

spoken utterances? Verse 21. What is the implication for the

manner in which we interpret the prophecies?

Jesus taught that the same Holy Spirit who inspired the prophecies

in the first place is available to the humble, teachable student who

prayerfully seeks an understanding of the Bible's prophetic mes-

sages. "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all

truth" (John 16:13, RSV). Because the Holy Spirit gave the prophetic

messages (2 Tim. 3:16, 17), it stands to reason that no interpretation

is valid but that which results from the teaching ministry of the Holy

Spirit.

How can you be sure that the Holy Spirit is guiding your

mind as you study Bible prophecy? On what basis can you test

someone else's interpretation?

Friday



February 17

FURTHER STUDY:

On the subject of preparation to meet the Lord,

study Romans 13:11-14; Titus 2:11-15; 3:3-8. Compare these pas-

sages with 2 Peter 1:3, 4, 10, 11. These scriptures urge the saints to

escape the world's moral and spiritual corruption. Purity of heart and

life is the hallmark of God's holy ones whom He will take off this

planet to their heavenly abode. Read "Apostasy at the Jordan" in

Patriarchs and Prophets,

pp. 453-461.

Christian virtue versus false teaching: In

2 Peter the apostle is

concerned about false teachings that can be met only by believers

strong in Christian character. Hence in chapter 1 he urges Christian

growth and grace as the best method of counteracting false teaching.

John makes plain in 2 John 1-12 that to obey God and to abide in the

doctrine of Christ is to escape the influence of false teachers. Abid-

ing in Christ is the most effective preventive of heresy.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

A friend asks you how we can have the assurance of salvation.

How would you use this week's lesson to help you answer the

question?

You hear a professing Christian say, "Christ has done every-

thing for me; there is nothing for me to do but accept His offer

of salvation." In the light of 2 Peter 1:5-8, do you believe that

statement? How would you explain to this person the role of

the believer in the sanctification process, without contradict-

ing Paul's teaching of salvation by faith? (See Gal. 2:16.)

If you could have been with Jesus during one event in His life,

which event would that have been? Why?

If someone asked you to prove that the Scriptures are God's

word, how would you answer? How does your answer relate to

your Bible-study habits? Your witness?

SUMMARY:

In chapter one Peter states the basic ideas, the ruling

principles in the Christian life. He shows that an acquaintance with

Jesus makes possible a life of godliness. Peter wishes to assure those

who read his two letters that he had, indeed, been an eyewitness of

the glory of Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. He affirms that

the writings of the prophets are inspired and that they are more

dependable than sight or sound.

Pentecost in China

Eugene Hsu

Just one year after 2,000 believers were baptized in a city in

northeast China, another baptism was held. This time, more than

4,400 were baptized in a four-day baptismal marathon.

Following the 1992 baptism, government officials and police

harassed the church and its members. Police were posted inside

and outside the church to prevent further baptisms and Com-

munion services. But this did not frighten the church members,

who continued their worship services with their visitors present.

When the government received word of plans for a second

baptism scheduled for August 1993, officials insisted that an

authorized Three-Self Movement pastor perform the baptism.

Church members understood that this was a delay tactic and

they again decided to conduct the baptism without government

recognition.

Baptismal candidates were carefully prepared and had to take

a written exam on Bible doctrines. Those who passed the exam

were given a numbered entrance card and told to arrive at the

baptismal site at 6:00 a.m. At the appointed time, candidates

lined up in groups for baptism according to their numbers. The

aging local elders in the church did not have sufficient strength

to physically baptize the people, so church members assisted. As

the elders spoke the baptismal vows, the deacons and deacon-

esses quickly lowered the candidates into the water and raised

them again.

Around 8:00 a.m., government officials arrived to stop the

baptism. They found a huge crowd, quiet and well organized.

After watching for several minutes, the officials allowed the

baptism to continue.

The baptism continued for four days,

until 4,415 new believers had been bap-

tized! Truly Pentecost is happening in

China!

With no financial assistance from

outside the country, and no trained evan-

gelists, this harvest has been the work

of the Holy Spirit.

Eugene Hsu is secretary of the Eastern

Asia Committee at the General Conference.

The exact location of the church has been

omitted due to threats of persecution.

For Current Newsbreak. Call 1-800-648-'58

Lesson 8



February 19-25

Christ's Last Prayer With

His Disciples

Sabbath Afternoon

READ FOR THIS WEEK'S STUDY: John 16:28-33; 17:1-26; Ps.

133:1-3.

MEMORY TEXT: "That they all may be one; as thou, Father,

art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that

the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (John 17:21).

KEY THOUGHT:

Jesus prayed that His disciples would be so

spiritually united to God and to one another that the world would be

drawn to Him and prepared for His ultimate glorification at the

Second Advent.

JESUS PRAYED FOR US.

The apostle John records Jesus' last

prayer offered in the presence of His disciples. Looming before Jesus

is Gethsemane, His capture, and trial, all of which hovers over Him

like a dark cloud. He longs to be glorified that the light of God's

providence might illuminate the forthcoming darkness of His cruci-

fixion. He appeals to His Father, with whom He enjoys perfect union

and unbroken communication, to grant to His closest followers a

union with the Father similar to His own. He prays that His disciples

may be kept from the evil of this present world and that, as a result of

their witnessing, multitudes may be added to His kingdom.

"Read John 17 over and over again. That prayer of our Saviour

offered to His Father in behalf of His disciples, is worthy to be oft

repeated, and carried in the practical

life."—Sons and Daughters of

God,

p. 295.

Sunday



February 19

THE SETTING FOR JESUS' PRAYER (John 16:28-33; 17:1).

How did Jesus seek to strengthen the disciples' faith in His

messiahship? John 16:28-33.

The Saviour and His disciples had spent Thursday evening to-

gether celebrating the Passover meal in the upper room (John 13). He

had instituted the ordinance of feet-washing and the Lord's Supper

(Matt. 26:20-29). Possessed of an earnest desire that they would

endure the dark days ahead, and knowing that His remaining time on

earth was brief, He gave them the instruction recorded in John 14-

16. Then He prayed for them the prayer of intercession recorded in

John 17.

"This prayer is a lesson regarding the intercession that the Saviour

would carry on within the veil, when His great sacrifice in behalf of

men, the offering of Himself, should have been completed. Our

Mediator gave His disciples this illustration of His ministration in the

heavenly sanctuary in behalf of all who will come to Him in meek-

ness and humility, emptied of all selfishness, and believing in His

power to save."—Ellen G. White Comments,

SDA Bible Commen-

tary,

vol. 5, p. 1145.

What did Jesus mean by His request of the Father that He

might be glorified? Had He not been glorified before? When did

this glorification of Christ take place? Was it before or after His

ascent to the heavenly abode? How is He being glorified now?

John 17:1, 4, 5, 10, 22 (compare John 12:23, 28).

Notice that Jesus' work on earth glorified the Father (John 17:4).

Christ was about to perform His greatest work on earth—His bearing

the punishment for the sins of the entire world. (See 1 John 2:2.) The

cross was the greatest evidence of the glory of God's character. After

that Christ was glorified in heaven by being reinstated to the immedi-

ate presence of the Father (John 17:5).

Then "He declares Himself glorified in those who believe on Him.

The church, in His name, is to carry to glorious perfection the work

which He has commenced; and when that church shall be finally

ransomed in the Paradise of God, He will look upon the travail of His

soul and be satisfied. Through all eternity the ransomed host will be

His chief glory."—Ellen G. White Comments,

SDA Bible Commen-

tary,

vol. 5, p. 1146.

Monday



February 20

RELIANCE UPON THE FATHER (John 17:2-12, 22-24).

How did Jesus Christ, the Lifegiver, affirm the power com-

mitted to Him by His Father? John 17:2 (compare Matt. 28:18-

20).

What is essential to the reception of eternal life? John 17:3.

To know Christ as Saviour is much more than knowing about

Him. Intellectual knowledge of the facts of Christianity—the life,

death, resurrection, and heavenly ministry of Christ—is valuable, but

this knowledge alone will save no one. Jesus made clear that

be-

lievers

have the gift of eternal life (John 5:24). This is because

believers have Christ and the Father living in their hearts by the

presence of the Holy Spirit (John 14:23).

"These words [John 17:3] mean much. It is only by knowing

Christ that we can know God. The Sent of God calls upon all to listen

to these words. They are the words of God, and all should give heed

to them; for by them they will be judged. To know Christ ravingly is

to be vitalized by spiritual knowledge, to practice His words. With-

out this, all else is valueless."—Ellen G. White Comments,

SDA

Bible Commentary,

vol. 5, pp. 1145, 1146.

Jesus confessed His total reliance upon His Father. Here was

the source of His power. How are the same divine resources open

to us? John 17:4-12, 22-24 (compare John 8:23-29, 42, 54, 55).

God gave Jesus (1) "power over all flesh" (John 17:2); (2) a

special work on earth (verse 4); (3) His disciples as witnesses (verses

6, 9, 11, 12); (4) words to speak (verse 8), and (5) His glory to reveal

(verses 22, 24).

As Jesus fulfilled the earthly ministry assigned to Him by His

Father, so in these last days God's remnant people will finish the

gospel work assigned to them. (See Rom. 9:27, 28; Matt. 28:18-20;

24:14.) The Lord Himself will cut short by miraculous intervention

the work of sharing the three angels' messages with the whole world

(Rev. 14:6-12).

What steps are the members of your church taking to co-

operate with God in answering Jesus' prayer?

Tuesday



February 21

SPECIFIC REQUESTS IN JESUS' PRAYER (John 17:9, 11, 13,

15, 20, 24).

What were Jesus' specific requests for His disciples? John

17:9, 11, 13, 15.

As they heard His earnest petition, the disciples were greatly

encouraged to know that their Lord and Master had prayed for them.

Think of Peter's experience. Did not Jesus pray for him (Luke 22:31,

32)? Stop and think; Christ has taken your name upon His lips. In His

intercessory work in heaven He has asked the Father to bless you. He

has actually mentioned you by name!

Jesus has power over all flesh (John 17:2), that is, power and

authority over the whole creation. It is also true that He has power

over men and women who battle with sin (Rom. 8:1-5, 9-13). He can

"save . . . to the uttermost" all "that come unto God by him" (Heb.

7:25).

"Every soul is as fully known to Jesus as if he were the only one

for whom the Saviour died. The distress of every one touches His

heart. The cry for aid reaches His ear. He came to draw all men unto

Himself."—The

Desire of Ages,

p. 480.

What was Jesus' prayer for the ultimate destiny of the con-

verts won by His disciples? John 17:20, 24.

A man arose in one of Dwight L. Moody's meetings and said, " 'I

have lived on the Mount of Transfiguration for five years.' How

many souls have you led to Christ?' was Mr. Moody's reply. 'I do

not really know,' replied the gentleman. 'Have you led any?' Mr.

Moody again asked. 'I do not know that I have.' Sit down, then,'

said Mr. Moody, 'for we do not want that kind of mountain-top

experience in our church.' "—G. B. F. Hallock,

2,500 Best Modern

Illustrations

(New York: Harper & Brothers, 1935), p. 342.

"0, how the divine Head longed to have His church with Him!

They had fellowship with Him in His suffering and humiliation, and

it is His highest joy to have them with Him to be partakers of His

glory. . . . To have them with Him is according to covenant promise

and agreement with His Father."—Ellen G. White Comments,

SDA

Bible Commentary,

vol. 5, p. 1148.

Jesus' prayer can be our daily petition—that we and our

families be kept from evil.

Wednesday



February 22

ONENESS WITH GOD AND ONE ANOTHER (John 17:14-23).

What is the meaning of the request "That they all may be one;

as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one

in us"? John 17:21-23.

Christ in the Father and the Father in Christ is the model for the

Christian—Christ in us and we in Christ. As the Father's will was

embedded and implanted in the mind and heart of Jesus and fulfilled

in His activities, so Christ was in the heart of His Father—loved,

honored, and cherished. This oneness of thought, will, purpose, ac-

tivity, and affection presents a picture of order and unity for all to

behold. God is in Christ and His earthly children. All are involved in

this family embrace, united in one life and purpose by prayer and

divine attachment.

What does oneness with God do for our individuality? 1 Cor.

15:10; 2 Cor. 12:10.

Are we to be so absorbed with faith in God and with God's

involvement with us that we cease to function normally? Should the

native personality with which God has endowed us cease to manifest

itself? No! The individual Christian's personality becomes the active

video screen upon which the vital life and righteousness of God is

portrayed.

"Let us always remember . . . that no matter how great and good a

work the human agent may do, he does not gain the ownership of

those who through his instrumentality have been converted to the

truth. . . . In our ministry we are to bring souls direct to Christ. They

are Christ's property, and must ever be amenable to Him alone.

Every person possesses an individuality that no other person can

claim."

—Evangelism,

p. 331.

"Although possessing different temperaments and dispositions,

they [God's people] will see eye to eye in all matters of religious

belief. They will speak the same things, they will have the same

judgment, they will be one in Christ

Jesus."—Ellen

G. White in

Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventist

Church

(Basle, Switzerland: Imprimerie Polyglotte, 1886), p. 124.

On the basis of John 17:17 how would you evaluate the

ecumenical call for unity of the churches? Is doctrinal unity

important?

Thursday



February 23

THE FATHER'S NAME DECLARED BY JESUS (John 17:4-8,

12, 26.

By what means did Jesus reveal the Father to His disciples?

John 17:6, 12, 26 (compare Ps. 8:1; 22:22).

God's name is a symbol of His character. To a world that mis-

understands God, Jesus portrays His Father's character (John 14:8-

11). In Christ's ministry and sacrifice are seen the infinite wisdom,

love, justice, and mercy of God. Knowing Jesus, which is knowing

the Father, both informs and transforms. (See 2 Cor. 3:18.)

By what divine instrument does God sanctify His people?

John 17:14-20.

The Bible is the standard by which to test the claims of all who

profess sanctification. But the Bible must be interpreted by the Holy

Spirit. We may understand the major teachings of the Word, and we

may employ them to judge others, while, at the same time failing to

submit ourselves to the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. Unless

we enjoy the blessings of Spirit-filled holiness and the resulting

conformity to the principles of God's Word, we are in no way

qualified to pass judgment on other beliefs. We must be sanctified by

God's Word (John 16:13; 17:14, 17).

Why did Christ "sanctify"(KJV) or "consecrate" (RSV) Him-

self? John 17:19. What commission did Jesus give His disciples?

Verses 18, 20. With what results? Acts 2:1-4, 41-47; 1 Thess. 1:5-

8; Col. 1:28.

As the gospel was preached to the world in that first century, so in

these final times God's message will go to all humanity. How are you

involved in this general proclamation?

What was the final request Jesus made of the Father? John

17:24-26.

Do you long to have a part in that celestial celebration? Have

you entered into an experience with Him that you can trans-

port to heaven in that great day?

Friday



February 24

FURTHER STUDY:

Compare Jesus' last prayer in John 17 with the

prayers of Nehemiah (Neh. 1:5-11; 2:4), Ezra (Ezra 9:5-15), Daniel

(Dan. 9:3-23), Hannah (1 Sam. 1:27-2:10), and Jabez (1 Chron. 4:9,

10). As you read these prayers, what similarities do you find? What

differences?

If you have the

SDA Bible Dictionary,

look up the word

glory.

Read

Selected Messages,

book 1, pp. 186-188;

The Desire of Ages,

p. 83;

That I May Know Him,

p. 97.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Jesus' prayer was audible to His disciples. How would you

have reacted if you had been present to hear Jesus utter this

prayer?

How can we actually achieve the "oneness experience" called

for in Jesus' petition?

Jesus prayed that we might be kept from the evils of this world.

Ask yourself, "How well am I doing?" Name some of the

hindrances in the way. "Do I trust God enough? Have I forgot-

ten that I have the power of will, which I may place on God's

side in the battle? (See

Testimonies,

vol. 5, pp. 511-513.) Do I

have a quiet time every day with Jesus?" (Read Matt. 4:1-11

and I John 2:15-17.)

SUMMARY:

In this model prayer, Jesus prayed for all of us, not

only for His disciples. Now as our High Priest in heaven, He makes

intercession for us with the Father. Oneness with Him and with one

another is the high purpose envisioned in this remarkable interces-

sory prayer. Like His disciples, we are sent to reveal the glory and

power of the Father and the Son. But we can do this only as we know

God by personal experience. In heaven at last we shall behold in

glory the Son of God, enthroned and worshiped by the angels and

redeemed alike.

The Man Whose Name Was Changed

Ken Flemmer

One of ADRA's relief programs distributes 6,000 tons of

corn each year in Eastern Mozambique. The corn is enough to

provide each of 140,000 people with one pound of corn a day.

Civil war makes work in Mozambique difficult and danger-

ous. Gunfire and land mines threaten even the simplest relief

operations. The first time we went to one village to distribute

food, we hit a small land mine and blew a tire off the truck.

When local workers were unloading ADRA's first shipment

of relief food, they noticed a man carrying a stick, keeping

people back while the crew carried sacks of corn to the waiting

trucks. Even the children had to wait until the barge was un-

loaded before this "policeman" allowed them to gather the ker-

nels that had fallen.

An ADRA worker learned that this "policeman" was known

as "Manual the Thief." Villagers said he beat his wife and

neglected his family responsibilities; some said he had killed

some people.

When the next shipment arrived, Manual was again there

with his stick, to keep law and order. Suddenly the director

looked up and saw Manual with a bag of corn on his head,

walking from the dock. The director expected Manual to disap-

pear into the crowd with the bag of corn, but he walked to the

loading area and dumped his bag onto the truck.

The director decided to offer Manual a job. Word of Manual's

"promotion" spread through the village. Wasn't Manual known

to be a thief, a violent person, perhaps even a murderer?

Later, Manual's father came to ADRA's office and asked

what we had done to Manual. "He is different. He quit drinking,

he doesn't beat his family, he supports them, and he no longer

steals," the father exclaimed.

Manual

has

changed; now workers in the warehouse refer to

him as "Manual our friend." Even though

his job is only carrying bags of corn from

here to there, it helped him to see how he

fit into a bigger plan, and it gave him a

reason to live and to change his ways.

Ken Flemmer is assistant vice president of

ADRA International.

For Current Newsbreak, Call 1-800-648-5824.



Lesson 9



February 26-March 4

The True Fast, the True

Restorers, and

the True Sabbath

Sabbath Afternoon

READ FOR THIS WEEK'S STUDY: Isaiah 58.

MEMORY TEXT: "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to

loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and

to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?"

(Isaiah 58:6).

KEY THOUGHT: Professed piety, religious ritual, and self-

denial are meaningless unless motivated by, and associated with,

loving service for others. Righteousness that is worth anything in-

volves acts of mercy, generosity, and relief for those less fortunate.

ISAIAH 58 OUTLINES THE BEST METHOD OF WITNESS-

ING FOR CHRIST. This chapter contrasts true and false religion.

The people of Israel, like many churches today, were preoccupied

with ritual, fasting, and ceremony. They wanted to attract the atten-

tion and favor of God. Instead, the Lord gave His stern rebuke, "Cry

aloud, spare not . . . declare to my people their transgression" (verse

1, RSV). The prophet points out a true fast, chosen by God—heart

change and compassion for the poor. There must be a new and

spiritual view of Sabbathkeeping. God would bless Israel if they

would exchange the façade of piety for heartfelt and unselfish out-

reach to the sick, the poor, and the helpless. The message is for

Seventh-day Adventists today, not simply for the Israelites of old.

"The work that . . . [Adventists] are to do is outlined in the fifty-

eighth chapter of Isaiah. Who is doing this work?"—Ellen G. White,

Review and Herald,

Dec. 17, 1901.

Sunday



February 26

ISRAEL'S PAINFUL ILLS (Isa. 58:1).

Why did the Israel of Isaiah's time need to be shown their true

condition? Isa. 58:1; 56:10; 59:2-8. How about the latter-day

church of Laodicea? Rev. 3:14-17.

The chosen people's pious profession of external religion left

them powerless to govern human passion and selfishness; hence the

outbreak of carnality in gross form (Isa. 1:4-6). This historical fact

accents the existence of the greatest error ever; namely, that a form of

religion will suffice to gain heaven and God's favor.

"There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon

their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and

secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the

love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life

as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such

religion is worth nothing. When Christ dwells in the heart, the soul

will be so filled with His love, with the joy of communion with Him,

that it will cleave to Him; and in the contemplation of Him, self will

be forgotten. Love to Christ will be the spring of action."—Steps

Christ,

pp. 44, 45. (Compare Matt. 23:25-28.)

What brand of religion will be practiced in the last days?

2 Timothy 3:5 (compare Titus 1:16; Isa. 29:13).

Religious profession without spiritual power manifests itself in a

number of ways. There may be great enthusiasm, considerable noise,

and much public display, but a decided lack of the Holy Spirit's

presence. While religion of this kind may engender warm feelings

and stimulated emotions, it tends to be self-focused. Sacrificial serv-

ice for others is often ignored. On the other hand, formal religious

exercises that insist on traditional modes of expression may involve

meaningful liturgy, beautiful music, and matchless homiletics but be

totally barren of genuine spiritual motivation. Worshipers are regaled

with culturally acceptable art forms and left totally unconcerned

about their suffering neighbors.

Without attempting to judge others, ask yourself to what

extent Isaiah's counsel applies to you?

Monday



February 27

SOUL AFFLICTION AND FASTING (Isa. 58:2-5).

What was the Lord's concern regarding His people? Isa. 58:2.

What complaint comes forth from the lips of the Lord's people?

Isa. 58:3.

Self-righteous people cannot diagnose their real problem. Notice

that Isaiah 58:2 and 3 depict God as viewing the people one way, and

the people viewing themselves quite differently. The people were

afflicted by the spiritual malady that Paul describes as prevalent in

his day: "Israel who pursued the righteousness which is based on law

did not succeed in fulfilling that law. Why? Because they did not

pursue it through faith, but as if it were based on works" (Rom. 9:31,

32, RSV).

Why were the people's fasts and other religious observances

unacceptable? What rebuke comes forth from God's lips? Isa.

58:3(last part)-5. How does the Lord indicate His disapproval of

the fast of the Israelites?

Spiritual inconsistency alienates us from the Lord and His bless-

ings. Prostrating ourselves before the Lord while cherishing bitter,

resentful feelings toward others produces no beneficial spiritual re-

sults. Appearing to our fellow believers as sanctified, dedicated Chris-

tians when, in fact, we would like "to quarrel and to fight" (Isa. 58:4,

RSV) is to invite God's displeasure.

Jesus addressed this very problem: "And when you fast, do not

look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that

their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their

reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that

your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in

secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you" (Matt.

6:16-18, RSV).

Is there a place for fasting in the Christian pattern of service

and worship? Matt. 17:14-21.

While fasting cannot, and is not intended to, earn credit with God,

it may, over a limited period of time, clear the mind and provide

opportunity for the soul to reach out for God's blessing upon the sick

and the needy.

Tuesday



February 28

THE TRUE FAST (Isa. 58:6-11).

What are the characteristics of a true fast as the Lord outlined

them? Isa. 58:6, 7, 9 (second part), 10.

The Jews' fast was a religious act. It satisfied the demands of their

self-deception—their idea of acceptance with God, but it was self-

centered. T. S. Eliot wrote, "Nothing dies harder than the desire to

think [too] well of oneself." The people's fasts were designed to

attract attention and admiration.

Sin has these characteristics: (1) self-sufficiency in place of faith,

(2) self-will in place of submission, (3) self-righteousness in place of

humility.

The true fast involves a ministry that emulates the healing minis-

try of Jesus. It includes the healing of the sick and the relief of the

needy. But its primary focus is "to loose the bonds of wickedness"

(Isa. 58:6, RSV). Jesus healed the sick to save them from sin. If our

fasting is motivated by our burden for souls, by the all-consuming

desire for lost ones to be released from their bondage, it is the kind of

fasting the Lord approves.

List the Lord's promises to those who practice the true fast.

Isa. 58:8, 9 (first part), 10 (second part), 11.

"And your healing shall spring up speedily" (Isa. 58:8, RSV).

What blessings there are for those who engage in medical missionary

work for the primary purpose of leading souls to Christ! "The Holy

Spirit never has, and never will in the future, divorce the medical

missionary work from the gospel ministry. They can not be di-

vorced."—Ellen G. White, Series "B," no. 7, p. 64.

What blessings there are for those who, though lacking the skill to

minister to the sick, do all they can to encourage others and relieve

their emotional and spiritual pain! "Many are in obscurity. They have

lost their bearings. They know not what course to pursue. Let the

perplexed ones search out others who are in perplexity, and speak to

them words of hope and encouragement. When they begin to do this

work, the light of heaven will reveal to them the path that they should

follow. By their words of consolation to the afflicted they themselves

will be consoled. By helping others, they themselves will be helped

out of their difficulties."—Ellen G. White Comments,

SDA Bible

Commentary,

vol. 4, p. 1151.

Wednesday



March 1

BUILDERS AND REPAIRERS (Isa. 58:12-14).

What names are given to those whose religious life is directed

toward service for others? Isa. 58:12.

The restoration and sharing of Bible truth always involves com-

passionate ministry to the needy. The doctrines of God's Word,

revived by the various phases of the sixteenth-century Reformation,

created new communities of Christians committed to more exalted

ethical and moral standards, and directed toward ministry for others.

But the Reformation left much of the golden ore of truth unmined.

The remnant (Rev. 12:17) are builders of "the old waste places," in

the sense that they revive the truths of God's Word buried by centu-

ries of neglect.

"Here are given the characteristics of those who shall be reform-

ers, who will bear the banner of the third angel's message, those who

avow themselves God's commandment-keeping people, and who

honor God, and are earnestly engaged, in the sight of all the universe,

in building up the old waste places. Who is it that calls them, The

repairers of the breach, The restorers of paths to dwell in? It is God.

Their names are registered in heaven as reformers, restorers, as

raising the foundations of many generations."—Ellen G. White Com-

ments,

SDA Bible Commentary,

vol. 4, p. 1151.

What is the final call of those who "build the old waste places"?

Rev. 14:12; 18:1-4.

"As the end approaches, the testimonies of God's servants will

become more decided and more powerful, flashing the light of truth

upon the systems of error and oppression that have so long held the

supremacy. The Lord has sent us messages for this time to establish

Christianity upon an eternal basis, and all who believe present truth

must stand, not in their own wisdom, but in God; and raise up the

foundation of many generations. These will be registered in the

books of heaven as repairers of the breach, the restorers of paths to

dwell in. We are to maintain the truth because it is truth, in the face of

the bitterest opposition. God is at work upon human minds; it is not

man alone that is working. The great illuminating power is from

Christ; the brightness of His example is to be kept before the people

in every discourse."—Ellen G. White Comments,

SDA Bible Com-

mentary,

vol. 4, p. 1152.

Thursday



March 2

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SABBATH AND

SERVICE (Isa. 56:1-8; 58:13, 14).

What promise is given to Sabbath reformers? Isa. 56:1-8;

58:13, 14.

True Sabbath observers "keep justice and do righteousness" (Isa.

56:1, RSV). Heaven accepts their works as righteous because they

result from their born-again fellowship with Christ. (See 1 John 2:29;

3:7.) By allowing Christ to rule in their lives, they refrain from

"doing any evil" (Isa. 56:2, RSV; compare Rom. 6:18). They "hold

fast my [God's] covenant" (Isa. 56:4, RSV) because His law is

written on their hearts (Heb. 8:10-12).

Isaiah 58:13, 14, in the context of the chapter, emphasizes that

true Sabbath observance, like true fasting, is inextricably bound up

with rejection of sin and with loving service for others. The Sabbath

was not given as leisure time in which we are to focus exclusively on

our own physical and spiritual needs. The Sabbath is a day for

ministry, not only by preachers but by every committed Seventh-day

Adventist.

Sabbathkeeping of the right sort is possible only when Jesus

Christ is our delight, our Pearl of great price, our loving and loved

Saviour. Then His day becomes fragrant with the memory of His

Creation and salvation for us. A heartfelt observance of the Sabbath

constitutes a seal of loyalty to God and His law (Ex. 31:12-17; Rev.

7:1-3).

What last-day message makes possible the restoration of the

Sabbath? Rev. 14:6-12.

"The message of the third angel will be proclaimed. As the time

comes for it to be given with greatest power, the Lord will work

through humble instruments, leading the minds of those who conse-

crate themselves to His service. The laborers will be qualified rather

by the unction of His Spirit than by the training of literary institu-

tions. Men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with

holy zeal, declaring the words which God gives them. The sins of

Babylon will be laid open. The fearful results of enforcing the observ-

ances of the church by civil authority, the inroads of Spiritualism, the

stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power—all will be unmasked.

By these solemn warnings the people will be stirred."—The

Great

Controversy,

p. 606.

Friday



March 3

FURTHER STUDY: On the importance of obedience to God and

service for Him and others read: 1 Sam. 15:22, 23; Ps. 40:5-11; Prov.

21:3; Isa. 1:11-17. Read

Prophets and Kings,

pp. 677, 678;

Testimo-

nies,

vol. 2, pp. 231, 232;

The Great Controversy,

pp. 447, 452, 453;

The Desire of Ages,

p. 278.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Have you ever fasted? Why? For health reasons'? Religious

reasons? What benefit did you gain?

What kind of fasting could be dangerous to your health?

In what way should Isaiah's definition of the fast God has

chosen make any difference in your life'?

Is Isaiah 58 more applicable to the last days than to Isaiah's

historical situation? Why, or why not?

Have you ever seriously thought of yourself as a restorer or a

repairer, a sort of spiritual repair person? If so, what specific

contribution do you see yourself as making by means of the

power bestowed by God's Spirit?

Tell how the observance of the true Sabbath can become a

"delight."

SUMMARY: God's true people in the last days will distinguish

themselves in their mission—first to the poor and downtrodden by

their community services, second by their healing ministry to the

sick, and third by their teaching of Bible truth. They will restore the

law of God to its rightful place, exalt Jesus as the foundation of their

faith, and repair the breach in God's law by giving the Sabbath its

rightful place of honor.

Former Enemies Unite to Evangelize

Joaquim Dias

Global Mission

Recently a large number of African refugees from the Portu-

guese-speaking countries of Africa have settled in Lisbon, Por-

tugal. Many of these refugees come from Angola, a country torn

by civil war. Refugees often are quite receptive to the gospel.

Some of these refugees already know about the Adventist church

or have attended the church services in their homeland. Some

have Seventh-day Adventist relatives.

Many of the African Adventists already living in Portugal

also came to this country to escape the civil war, or to search for

better living conditions. Now they have united in an effort to

reach and win the new refugees for Christ.

The unity of the African Portuguese-speaking Adventist com-

munity is amazing. Most came from warring sections of Angola,

from tribes that fought fiercely among themselves. Now they

put aside their old tribal quarrels and live in peace and harmony,

united in the common project of bringing the good news to their

compatriots. Recently one of these brothers summed up their

experience in the following words: "If our families in Angola

knew how united we are as we work peacefully together, they

simply wouldn't believe it!"

This unity

and brotherly love is only possible by the power of

the Holy Spirit that can bring us together as a people working in

a soul-winning project. For these African brothers and sisters,

Global Mission means an opportunity to work for the salvation

of their fellow countrymen regardless of their differing ethnic

backgrounds or the ancient hatred that might separate them.

This work is so challenging that a young African pastor, re-

cently graduated from the French Seminary in Collonges, has

been appointed to lead out in this Global Mission project.

Joaquim Dias is president of the Portuguese Union of the Euro-

African Division.

Lesson 10



March 5-11

"When Shall These

Things Be?"

Sabbath Afternoon

READ FOR THIS WEEK'S STUDY: Matt. 23:37-25:46.

MEMORY TEXT: "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an

hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 24:44).

KEY THOUGHT:

Jesus revealed the events that would occur

shortly before His second advent, because He wants His people to be

spiritually prepared to meet Him.

THE SETTING OF MATTHEW 24 AND 25.

Jesus had just

openly exposed the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew

23). He solemnly declared, "Behold, your house is left unto you

desolate" (Matt. 23:38). As Jesus left the temple area, His disciples

pointed out the magnificent white stones that comprised the beautiful

structure. Jesus replied that the time would come when not one stone

would be left standing upon another. The disciples asked, "When

will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close

of the age?" (Matt. 24:3, RSV).

In His reply, Jesus foretold events that would illustrate the nature of

the events surrounding His advent. "The prophecy which He uttered was

twofold in its meaning; while foreshadowing the destruction of Jerusa-

lem, it prefigured also the terrors of the last great day." "The Saviour's

prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to

have another fulfillment, of which that terrible desolation was but a faint

shadow."—The

Great Controversy,

pp. 25, 36.

Sunday



March 5

THE GATHERING STORM (Matt. 24:4-14).

In His discourse Jesus did not describe the destruction of Jerusa-

lem in some sections and His second coming in others.

"He mingled

the description of these two events. . . .

In mercy to them

He blended

the description of the two great crises,

leaving the disciples to study

out the meaning for themselves. . . .

This entire discourse

was given,

not for the disciples only, but for those who should live in the last

scenes of this earth's history."—The

Desire of Ages,

628 (italics

supplied; see

The Great Controversy,

p. 25).

Applying the principles of interpretation outlined above, how

would you relate Jesus' predictions in Matthew 24:4-8 to our

day?

The twentieth century has witnessed the three phenomena men-

tioned in these verses to an extent unprecedented in history—the

claims of false messiahs, the most devastating wars in history, and

famines and earthquakes of great extent and frequency. The recent

famines in Africa and Eastern Europe dramatically fulfill Jesus'

prediction. The history of earthquakes, from the Lisbon earthquake

of 1755 to the more recent quakes in such places as California, Japan,

Chile, Peru, Morocco, the Soviet Union, and Mexico, testifies to the

truth of Jesus' words.

What events can we expect as the final effort is being made to

preach the gospel worldwide? Matt. 24:9-14.

The hatred shown to God's remnant people is in view of their

determination to obey, through the power of Christ, all God's com-

mandments, including the seventh-day Sabbath command. (See Rev.

12:17; 13:15-17; 14:9-11.) Professed believers who give in to the

demands of nations that they break the Sabbath command will betray

their former brothers and sisters (Matt. 24:10).

"As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith

in the third angel's message, but have not been sanctified through

obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of

the opposition. . . . Men of talent and pleasing address, who once

rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead

souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former breth-

ren."—The

Great Controversy,

p. 608.

Monday



March 6

MIDNIGHT DARKNESS (Matt. 24:15-28).

What events fulfill Jesus' forecasts contained in Matthew 24:15-

22? Compare Dan. 8:13, 14; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11.

The work of the "little horn" described in Daniel 8:9-14 estab-

lishes "the transgression that makes desolate" (Dan. 8:13, RSV), or

"the abomination that makes desolate" (Dan. 11:31, RSV). Jesus was

referring to "the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel"

(Matt. 24:15, RSV), which does not finally end until the second

coming of Jesus. (See Dan. 8:25; compare 2:45.)

The tribulation of Matthew 24:15-22 has a threefold application:

The armies of Rome led by Cestius besieged Jerusalem late in

A.D. 66. Cestius withdrew, and the Christians escaped from the city.

Finally Jerusalem was overthrown and the temple destroyed by the

armies of Titus in A.D. 70.

"[Matt. 24:15, 16 quoted. . . .] When the idolatrous standards of

the Romans should be set up in the holy ground, which extended

some furlongs outside the city walls, then the followers of Christ

were to find safety in flight."

"Not one Christian perished in the destruction of Jerusalem."

—The Great Controversy,

pp. 26, 30. (See Ellen G. White Com-

ments,

SDA Bible Commentary,

vol. 4, p. 1145.)

The tribulation also refers to the work of the church-state union

of the Middle Ages in Europe, which enforced an unbiblical mode of

worship. (See

The Great Controversy,

pp. 39, 266, 267.) Once again

God's faithful people were forced to flee.

The tribulation Jesus mentioned also refers to the events shortly

before His second advent when, once again, the papal power, united

with spiritism and apostate Protestantism, will dictate to the world.

(Compare Matt. 24:21; Dan. 12:2; 2 Thess. 2:7, 8; Rev. 19:20.)

"The time is not far distant, when, like the early disciples, we shall

be forced to seek a refuge in desolate and solitary places. As the siege

of Jerusalem by the Roman armies was the signal for flight to the

Judean Christians, so the assumption of power on the part of our

nation in the decree enforcing the papal sabbath will be a warning to

us. [See Matt. 24:20.] It will then be time to leave the large cities,

preparatory to leaving the smaller ones for retired homes in secluded

places among the

mountains."—Testimonies,

vol. 5, pp. 464, 465.

(See

The Great Controversy,

pp. 36, 37;

SDA Bible Commentary,

vol. 4, p. 1166.)

Tuesday



March 7

THE SON OF MAN COMES (Matt. 24:29-31).

At what stage in history do the dark day and the falling of the

stars occur? Matt. 24:29 (compare verses 21, 22).

As we have seen, the great tribulation of Matthew 24:21, 22 refers

to the suffering of the chosen people in A.D. 70, the persecutions of

Bible-loving believers during the Middle Ages, and the persecution

of Christ's loyal people shortly before He comes. (The tribulation

during the period of papal supremacy [A.D. 538-1798; Dan. 7:25]

largely ended before 1798. See Matt. 24:22; Mark 13:24.)

The two great historical tribulations (A.D. 70 and 538-1798) were

types or examples of the ultimate tribulation that will occur after the

end-time church-state union enforces "the desolating sacrilege" (Matt.

24:15, RSV). Daniel speaks of this tribulation commencing before

the close of probation (Dan. 11:44). Then comes the close of proba-

tion after which "there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has

been" (Dan. 12:1, RSV).

The dark day and the falling of the stars refer to:

(1)

natural events after the worst persecutions of the medieval and

early modern period (Mark 13:24)—the dark day of May 19, 1780

and the meteoric shower of November 13, 1833. (See

The Great

Controversy,

pp. 306, 307, 333, 334.)

(2)

The events at the conclusion of the end-time tribulation, im-

mediately prior to the Day of the Lord, the second coming of Jesus.

(See Isa. 13:9-11; 34:1-4; Eze. 32:7, 8; Joel 2:10, 11, 30-32; Rev.

6:12, 13.) "With shouts of triumph, jeering, and imprecation, throngs

of evil men are about to rush upon their prey, when, lo, a dense

blackness, deeper than the darkness of the night, falls upon the

earth."—The

Great Controversy,

p. 334.

Will Jesus' second coming be a secret or a public event? What

happens when He comes? Matt. 24:30, 31 (compare 1 Thess.

4:16-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-54; Rev. 1:7).

All earth's lost inhabitants mourn when they see Jesus coming,

because they are not spiritually ready to meet Him. (See Rev. 6:15-

17.) But God's faithful people are ready. Those who died believing

are raised (1 Thess. 4:16), and with the living believers are gathered

by the angels to meet the Lord in the air (verse 17). Together they are

taken to the heavenly kingdom (John 14:3; Rev. 7:13-17).

Wednesday



March 8

PREPARING TO MEET THE LORD (Matt. 24:32-51).

How can we be sure that the second coming of Jesus is near?

Matt. 24:32-35.

Jesus pointed out that no one has difficulty in detecting the com-

ing of summer. Springtime is a beautiful time of promise and renewal

in nature. Even so, those who witness the final signs of Jesus' coming

will live to see the Second Advent.

What will be the state of our world socially and morally in the

period just prior to Jesus' advent? Matt. 24:36-38. How did Jesus

intend us to follow His counsel in verses 42-44? 1 Thess. 5:1-23.

Postmillennialists argue that Christ will come after 1,000 years of

peace on earth. They point to vast improvements in the human

situation, economically, morally, and spiritually. But Jesus taught

that world conditions will become progressively worse until He

comes to end the night of gloom. (Compare 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 2 Peter 3:3-

7.)

By following the counsel contained in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-23 and

other passages, we are to draw progressively nearer to the Lord and,

by His indwelling Spirit, experience victory over sin. (See 2 Cor.

7:1.) We are to "come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge

of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of

Christ" (Eph. 4:13, NRSV).

Apart from being prepared ourselves, what is our responsibil-

ity to others? Matt. 24:45-51.

Every Christian believer has been set over some feature of Christ's

household (verse 45). We each have a spiritual responsibility to those

around us, not to "beat" others because they do not see things our

way, but to gently lead them to the Saviour. To enjoy the blessings

the church has to offer, to revel in the spiritual delights the Lord

provides, while exercising little or no effort to give others "their food

at the proper time" is to fail dismally in the task Jesus has given us.

How do you answer for yourself the issues raised in the

above paragraph?

Thursday



March 9

THE STATE OF THE CHURCH BEFORE JESUS COMES

(Matt. 25:1-46).

What is the central message in the parable of the ten virgins?

Matt. 25:1-13.

The three parables of Matthew 25 warn us of spiritual unprepared-

ness in the period when our Lord's return is delayed. These parables

also reveal the two classes that will coexist in the last-day church—

those who have sufficient oil in their lamps and those who do not. In

the parable of the ten virgins, the lamps represent the Word of God.

(See Ps. 119:105.) The oil represents the Holy Spirit dwelling in the

hearts of believers. (See Zech. 4:1-6.)

"Without the Spirit of God a knowledge of His word is of no avail.

The theory of truth, unaccompanied by the Holy Spirit, cannot quicken

the soul or sanctify the heart. One may be familiar with the com-

mands and promises of the Bible; but unless the Spirit of God sets the

truth home, the character will not be transformed. Without the en-

lightenment of the Spirit, men will not be able to distinguish truth

from error, and they will fall under the masterful temptations of

Satan."--Christ's Object Lessons,

pp. 408-411.

In the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30), why did the

master take a servant's one talent and give it to the servant who

had ten talents (verse

28)?

The greatest talent available to Christian believers is the gift of the

Holy Spirit (John 14:15-24). He imparts spiritual gifts to all those

who come to Christ (1 Cor. 12:8-11). In addition, everyone has

natural endowments, inherited or cultivated abilities. Empowered by

the Holy Spirit, we have the capacity to employ all these talents in

Christ's service.

Until Christ comes, there will be those who are cooperating with

the Spirit in using their talents, and others who are refusing to

cooperate, burying their abilities. Talents unused are ultimately tal-

ents lost.

In the parable of the great judgment scene (Matt. 25:31-46),

how did Jesus suggest we should all employ our talents? What

does this message have to do with righteousness and salvation

by faith? What is the one reason Jesus saves some and rejects

others? In the light of this, are you ready to meet Him?

Friday



March 10

FURTHER STUDY:

On preparation to meet Christ read Joel 2:28-

32, Rom. 13:11-14, Titus 2:11-15, and Rev. 3:1-5. Read "On the

Mount of Olives"

in The Desire of Ages,

pp. 627-636.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Why did Jesus provide signs of the times for the church? Give

at least three reasons.

In the light of the many forecasts of Jesus' second advent,

would you say that there is much or little yet to be fulfilled?

Why did not the Lord give us the exact day, month, and year of

His appearing?

In this, the time of the end, are we looking for and hastening

the advent of the Lord? How can we hasten (2 Peter 3:12) His

return? 1 John 3:1-3.

How would you explain to a questioner why Seventh-day

Adventists are so focused on the end of the world?

SUMMARY:

In Matthew 24 Jesus traces prophetically the future of

His church in the Christian Era; first, in connection with the destruc-

tion of Jerusalem; second, during the great tribulation period of the

Middle Ages; third, in the time of the end, just prior to His second

advent. History repeats itself. The events of history illustrate the

events of the end time. The triumph of the gospel is assured and, in

spite of horrendous times of persecution, Jesus calls for patient

endurance and warns of the danger of eternal loss. Because the return

of Christ is imminent, as the fulfilling signs indicate, Scripture chal-

lenges us to identify with the wise virgins, who represented Spirit-

filled believers.

Gimbal alissisa

A Missionary to Earth

Terri Jean Webb

"Last call for Flight 892 to San Francisco."

Oh, no! It's still

not my flight,

I thought. I had been sitting in the Narita Airport in

Japan for five hours, awaiting the connecting flight that would

take my parents and me to the Philippines. The longer I sat there

feeling miserable, the more resentment grew inside me.

How

could I ever have agreed to be dragged halfway around the

world to the Philippines? I am so hungry and thirsty! I would

love to buy a soda, but it costs more than $3.00! Is this what my

life will be like for the next two years?

Anger grew inside me.

With these angry thoughts rolling around in my mind, I stretched

on the seats to take nap. I fell into a troubled sleep and began to

dream. In my dream I saw a panoramic view of Christ's life. I

saw Him leave His holy, sinless home in heaven to come to our

sinful earth. I saw him lying in a wretched stable with smelly

cows. I saw Him being ridiculed by his brothers. I saw Him in

the Garden of Gethsemane, His face twisted in agony. I heard

him breathe the words "Not my will, but Thine." I saw Him on

the cross as the soldier pierced His side.

I awoke with a start. I felt as if tons of guilt were laid on my

heart. What was I complaining about? Sure, I had to leave my

friends and family. But at least, I can go back home in two years.

Jesus chose to go through a whole lifetime of humiliation, ridi-

cule and torment! And He died on the cross, not for His sins, but

for mine! Wow! I guess giving just two short years isn't so bad. I

slid to my knees and prayed. "Thank You, Jesus, for giving me a

chance to be a missionary to the Philippines. And thanks for

being a missionary to Earth!"

Terri Webb, 12, lives with her parents, Fred

and Arlene Webb, at Mountain View College

in the Philippines, where her father is business

consultant and director of development. Terri

loves the Philippines and has no regrets.

For Current Newsbreak, Call 1-800-648-5824.

Lesson 11



March 12-18

The Gospel for the

End-Time

Sabbath Afternoon

READ FOR THIS WEEK'S STUDY: Rev. 14:1-20; 15:2-4.

MEMORY TEXT: "Here is the patience of the saints: here are

they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of

Jesus" (Revelation 14:12).

KEY THOUGHT:

The Lord will give spiritual victory to those

who respond to the three angels' messages and remain true to Him.

He will "reap" them from the earth at Jesus' second coming.

REVELATION 14 PRESENTS HEAVEN'S LAST APPEAL

TO A FALLEN WORLD.

Verses 1-5 describe the character of the

redeemed saints who live through the tribulation of the last days and

who will stand triumphant with Jesus on the heavenly Mount Zion.

Verses 6-14 describe the messages that shape the characters of God's

people. These are the messages they proclaim to the world. Moti-

vated and empowered by angels of mercy, believers are sent by God

to minister messages of salvation to the whole world. Verses 15-20

depict a second trio of angels, who give the command to harvest the

ripe sheaves of grain and supervise the awful judgment upon the

world of impenitent souls. Then Jesus returns in power and glory

seated on the throne, to awaken the righteous dead and translate the

living saints.

The three angels' messages proclaimed by God's people prepare

those who respond to stand triumphant when Jesus appears (Rev.

6:17; 15:2-4). They have overcome the deceptions of Satan and are

qualified to enter the perfection of the eternal world.

Sunday



March 12

GOD'S SEAL FOR THE SAVED (Rev. 7:1-8; Rev. 14:1-5).

What is the seal in the foreheads of the 144,000? (Compare

Rev. 7:1-3 with 14:1.)

First, we should note that 144,000 are standing on "Mount Zion"

(Rev. 14:1, RSV). This is the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22).

Because they were sealed on earth, they could be translated to heaven

at Jesus' second coming. (See John 14:1-3.)

Second, we should note that the seal in their foreheads (Rev. 7:3)

is "his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads" (Rev.

14:1, RSV). Because Christ's name and the Father's name are sym-

bols of their character (Ps. 18:49), we conclude that the 144,000 have

been given the character of God by the indwelling Holy Spirit (Rom.

8:9-17). The earthly high priest wore "the golden plate, the holy

crown" on his turban (Lev. 8:9, RSV), on which were the words,

"Holy to the Lord" (Ex. 39:30, RSV). Just so, because the 144,000

possess the holiness of Christ, they are set apart for a holy purpose.

A further dimension to the seal is that in Scripture the words

sign,

seal,

and

mark

are sometimes used synonymously. (Compare Rev.

7:3 with Eze. 9:4, Rom. 4:11; Rev. 13:16, 17.) God's seal, or sign, of

the everlasting covenant relationship between Himself and His people

is the Sabbath (Ex. 31:13, 17; Eze. 20:12, 20). The end-time seal of

God (Rev. 7:3; 14:1) is given to those who are enjoying the fullness

of the righteousness-by-faith experience and who are faithfully ob-

serving the Sabbath.

When do the 144,000 receive the end-time seal of God? Rev.

6:14-17; 7:1-3.

The 144,000 are able to "stand" amidst the outpouring of God's

wrath at Jesus' second coming because

before this event

God will

have sealed them with His end-time seal. Moreover, Joel 2:28 pre-

dicts the "latter rain" outpouring of the Holy Spirit before the coming

of Jesus.

Ellen White wrote, "Reference to our published works will show

our belief that the living righteous will receive the seal of God prior

to the close of

probation."—Selected Messages,

book 1, p. 66.

Why must we seek to receive both the Holy Spirit's initial

seal (Eph. 1:13, 14) and end-time seal (Rev. 7:3; 14:1)?

Monday



March 13

HOW CAN WE BE AMONG THE 144,000? (Rev. 14:5).

Who are the 144,000? Rev. 6:17; 7:1-8; 14:3, 4.

To answer the question How can we be among the 144,000? we

must have some idea who the 144,000 are. When the impenitent are

crying out in despair at the second advent of Jesus (Rev. 6:14-16),

their question is "The great day of their wrath has come, and who can

stand before it?" (Rev. 6:17, RSV). John's answer is, the 144,000

who were sealed before the winds of strife were let loose, before the

close of probation. The 144,000 are the righteous living on the earth

when Jesus comes. They are "redeemed from the earth," "from among

men" (Rev. 14:3, 4). When Jesus comes, "we which are alive and

remain" (1 Thess. 4:17) are the 144,000.

"These, having been translated from the earth, from among the

living, are counted as 'the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.'

Revelation 15:2, 3; 14:1-5. 'These are they which came out of great

tribulation;' they have passed through the time of trouble such as

never was since there was a nation; they have endured the anguish of

the time of Jacob's trouble; they have stood without an intercessor

through the final outpouring of God's judgments. But they have been

delivered, for they have 'washed their robes, and made them white in

the blood of the Lamb.'

"—The Great Controversy,

p. 649.

Why do we regard the number 144,000 as

symbolic

of the total

number of the sealed believers when Jesus comes? (1) Because the

prophecy is symbolic. The "four corners," the "four winds," the

"east," the "seal," the "earth," "sea," "trees," are all symbols (Rev.

7:1-3). Likewise, the 12 tribes are symbols; they do not exist today in

that form. The 144,000 are not only Jews. The number 144,000 (12

times 12 times 1,000) is a symbol of perfect symmetry, spiritual

perfection. (See Rev. 21:12, 14-17, 27.)

What must our characters be like if we are to be among God's

living people when Jesus comes? Rev. 14:5 (compare Eph. 1:4;

5:27; Col. 1:22; Jude 24).

"None but those who have been overcoming by the blood of

the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with

the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in

their mouths. We must be divested of our self-righteousness

and arrayed in the righteousness of

Christ."—Selected

Mes-

sages,

book 2, p. 380.

Tuesday



March 14

THE VOICE OF THE FIRST ANGEL (Rev. 14:6, 7).

What is the heart and soul of the first angel's proclamation?

Rev. 14:6.

The "everlasting" (KJV) or "eternal" (RSV) gospel is good news

containing a number of emphases: (1) Jesus is the Lamb of God, who

died for the sins of the whole world and arose from the dead (1 Cor.

15:1-4). (2) Because Jesus intercedes for us in the heavenly sanctu-

ary, applying the merits of His sacrifice, all our sins can be forgiven

(1 Tim. 2:5; 1 John 1:9; 2:1). (3) We can have the righteousness of

Christ in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:1-10). (4) Jesus will

return to make eternal life a reality for those who believe (John 3:36;

1 Peter 5:10).

The gospel message is so important that it takes on global signifi-

cance. It must be proclaimed worldwide before Jesus comes (Matt.

24:14).

Because the message of the first angel is the gospel, the special

features of this proclamation must be part of the gospel. What

are those features? Rev. 14:7.

The first angel's message is a solemn call to return to Creator-

worship.

"Fear God":

To fear God is not to be afraid of Him, but to give

Him reverence and respect, to do His will. The distinction between

being afraid of God and reverencing Him is spelled out in Exodus

20:20.

"Give glory to him":

We glorify God by allowing Him to live out

His life through us (Gal. 2:20) so that our characters are a reflection

of His (John 17:22, 23).

"The hour of his judgment is come":

Because the end comes

after the gospel has gone into all the world, the judgment, which is

announced as part of the gospel message, must occur before the end

of the world. (See Dan. 7:9-14, 21, 22, 25-27; 8:14.) Daniel 8:14;

9:24-27 pinpoint the beginning of the pre-advent judgment as 1844.

Christ's righteousness qualifies us to stand in the judgment.

"Worship him that made":

God is to be worshiped because He is

the Creator of heaven and earth. This takes us back to the origin of

humanity and the world, back to Genesis 1 and 2. God created our

world in six days and six nights, and rested on the seventh day,

setting it apart as the day to worship Him as Creator. (See Isa. 56:1,

2; 58:13, 14; Matt. 24:20.)

Wednesday



March 15

THE SECOND ALARM (Rev. 14:8).

What startling announcement does the second angel make

concerning the city of Babylon? What does "Babylon" symbol-

ize? Why does it fall? Rev. 14:8.

The Medes and Persians conquered the literal city of Babylon in

the days of Belshazzar (Daniel 5). Centuries before, the Tower of

Babel fell when God toppled the tower. The rebellious builders found

themselves speaking in foreign tongues, unable to understand one

another. They spread out over the plains and populated the earth,

leaving behind them the ruins produced by their false worship. (See

Gen. 11:1-9.)

The second angel's message does not refer to the literal history of

an ancient kingdom. It is a call to abandon the worship espoused and

taught by the false religious system of today, the "Babylon" of

apostasy.

In 1843 and 1844 the loyal Adventists who had announced the

first angel's message with power, also proclaimed the second angel's

message. It applied to those people in the popular churches who had

heard the warning message and refused to accept it. Now the popular

churches had fallen, and the Lord turned from them to bestow His

blessing upon those who had accepted the light.

Because modern "Babylon" began with the false teachings

that came into the early Christian church, why do we believe that

Revelation 14:8 applies especially in our day? What prophetic

evidence is provided by Revelation 17:1-6, 15-18; 18:1-4 that the

message announcing the fall of Babylon is especially relevant in

our contemporary world?

Any church that accepts the nonbiblical doctrines taught by the

medieval church can be regarded as a daughter of "Babylon the great,

the mother of harlots" (Rev. 17:5). Those doctrines include: (1)

Sunday sacredness; (2) the immortality of the soul; (3) an eternally

burning hell; (4) the belief that human works contribute to our justifi-

cation; (5) the contention that Christ is not the only Head of the

church; (6) that priests can forgive sins.

More recent falsehoods taught by popular churches include: (1)

salvation by grace releases us from keeping the Ten Commandments;

(2) Christ is not the Deity in the fullest sense; (3) Christ will translate

His people to heaven by means of a secret rapture.

Thursday



March 16

THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE (Rev. 14:9-12).

Explain the warning sounded by the third angel. Rev. 14:9-11.

Identify the beast of Revelation 13:1-10; the mark of the beast

(verses 11-17); the image and the number of the beast (verse 18).

"The Sabbath question will be the issue in the great conflict in

which all the world will act a part [Rev. 13:4-8, 10 quoted]. . . . This

entire chapter is a revelation of what will surely take place [Rev.

13:11, 15-17 quoted]. . . .

"The third angel's message has been sent forth to the world,

warning men against receiving the mark of the beast or of his image

in their foreheads or in their hands. To receive this mark means to

come to the same decision as the beast has done, and to advocate the

same ideas, in direct opposition to the Word of God."—Ellen G.

White Comments,

SDA Bible Commentary, vol.

7, p. 979. (See the

last half of "God's Law Immutable,"

The Great Controversy,

pp. 437-450.)

The third angel's message is intended to point us to Christ as the

source of righteousness and salvation. Those who maintain faith in

Christ, experiencing the gift of His righteousness and the joy of

present salvation, will be immune from the terrible judgments upon

unbelievers (Rev. 14:12). If they die before Jesus comes, they are

assured the blessing of eternal life (verse 13).

Is the fire of God's judgment an endless burning? Rev. 14:11.

Is the "eternal fire" that fell on Sodom still burning? Jude 7

(compare 2 Peter 2:6).

How does John describe the second coming of Christ? Rev.

14:14-16. What signal does Christ give to reap the harvest of His

saints? Verse 15. What does the picture of a winepress filled with

ripe grapes symbolize (verses 17-20)?

These six dramatic verses (15-20), while punctuated with God's

judgment and wrath, are also brightened by the radiant pictures of

deliverance for the Lord's suffering saints. The hour has come at last

for the dividing of the sheep and the goats (Matt. 25:31-46), the wise

and foolish virgins (Matt. 25:1-13). (See

The Great Controversy,

p. 650.)

Friday



March 17

FURTHER STUDY:

Noah had a warning message for the ante-

diluvians (Gen. 6:3-7; 2 Peter 2:5). Elijah brought the message of

decision to apostate Israel in the days of King Ahab (1 Kings 18:1-

46). Lot witnessed in Sodom (Luke 17:28-30). John the Baptist

proclaimed the arrival of the Saviour (Mark 1:7-11). Wycliffe in

England, Huss in Bohemia, Luther in Germany, Zwingli and Calvin

in Switzerland, Knox in Scotland, Miller in America—all proclaimed

the gospel. Likewise, Adventists are to sound the Elijah message

prior to the Second Advent (Mal. 4:5, 6).

Read "The Final Warning" in

The Great Controversy,

pp. 603-

612.

DISCUSSION QUESTION:

Why do you think so many writers on religious themes tend to

avoid the book of Revelation?

How can we restate the second and third angels' messages in

more positive terms?

Why is it especially important to teach the first angel's mes-

sage along with the other two?

A friend cannot understand why God endeavors to arrest the

attention of nonbelievers by the terrible threat of punishment

in the third angel's message. How would you explain this?

SUMMARY:

In the three angels' messages one can feel the strong

heart-longings of the Creator God for His earthly children. At differ-

ent crises in the church and in the world God has commissioned His

messengers to go to the people with the warning message, the

eleventh-hour call, the third alarm, the last call. The three alarms of

the trio of angels of Revelation 14 are the final call to earth's inhabit-

ants. The issues center in God's holy law, His sovereignty, and the

transforming grace of Jesus Christ in the gospel. Eternal life is the

gift for those who accept it.

God Changed Me

Dimiter Stoyanov

My name is Dimiter Stoyanov. I am a Gypsy, living in Bul-

garia with my wife and two little children. I have been handi-

capped all my life and must walk with crutches, but this did not

prevent me from going from town to town cheating people,

selling false gold jewelry, and using counterfeit money. Many

people in the towns and villages of Bulgaria would like to beat

me to death if they saw me.

I have led a violent life. I drank and smoked, and I never

looked after the needs of my family. Most of the local criminals

protected me when I needed to escape.

One day, I heard that an American evangelist was holding

some meetings for the Gypsy community nearby. Like most

Gypsies, I scoffed at Christians, and my friends and I decided to

attend the meetings—to rob the evangelist! I went to the meet-

ing and stood behind the stage. I half listened as the evangelist,

Robert Wagley, spoke of the love of God to all sinners. I do not

know what happened to me, but something broke in my heart,

and I began to cry. This was the first time I had considered

letting God into my life.

From that moment on, my life was changed. I gave up alco-

hol and cigarettes immediately. The change surprised my friends

and relatives. I began studying the Bible, and was baptized

together with 200 other Gypsies in my community.

The police do not yet know of the change in my life. They

still are looking for me for crimes I have committed. I owe much

money to the bank and to individuals, but I know that with

God's help, I can repay my debts and more. There is nothing

impossible for God. Now my greatest desire is to help my wife

and family to know Jesus and His power to change lives.

Dimiter Stoyanov and hundreds of Gypsies living throughout Europe

have found new meaning in life through Christ. Instead of stealing,

they now are giving to others the hope they have found.

For Current Newsbreak, Call 1-800-648-5824.



Lesson 12



March 19-25

God's Care in Storm

and Stress

Sabbath Afternoon

READ FOR THIS WEEK'S STUDY: Ps. 91:1-16; Ps. 46:1-11.

MEMORY VERSE: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of

the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I

will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God;

in him will I trust" (Psalm 91:1, 2).

KEY THOUGHT:

In times of trial, God's faithful people are

assured of His constant presence, protection, and reassurance. Even

when the Lord chooses to allow His people to suffer physically, He is

an impenetrable fortress against their spiritual enemies.

GOD PROVIDES SHELTER IN TIME OF STORM.

"In the

ninety-first psalm is a most wonderful description of the coming of

the Lord to bring the wickedness of the wicked to an end, and to give

to those who have chosen Him as their Redeemer the assurance of

His love and protecting care. . . .

"In the time when God's judgments are falling without mercy, oh,

how enviable to the wicked will be the position of those who abide

`in the secret place of the Most High'—the pavilion in which the

Lord hides all who have loved Him and have obeyed His command-

ments! . . . But the door of mercy is closed to the wicked, no more

prayers are offered in their behalf, after probation ends.

"But this time has not yet come. Mercy's sweet voice is still to be

heard. The Lord is now calling sinners to come to Him."—Ellen G.

White Comments,

SDA Bible Commentary,

vol. 3, p. 1150.

Sunday



March 19

GOD OUR REFUGE AND DWELLING PLACE (Ps. 91:1; Ps.

46:1-3).

Why can we be sure of God's protection in time of trouble? Ps.

91:1; 46:1-3.

Among the most quoted verses of Scripture is the Lord's promise

in Psalm 91:1 of His sheltering care and protection in the soon-to-

come time of trouble. The promise is embossed, as it were, lifted

high above many verses of Scripture—comforting words, poetic and

warmly descriptive. The Lord is a refuge in time of storm, a fortress,

a safe place beneath His outstretched wings, and His truth a shield to

guide and to protect.

How did David's personal life and experience prepare him to

write this prophetic psalm? Ps. 32:1-11.

Saul's pursuit of David taught the future king of Israel that there is

no other refuge than God. After his sin with Bathsheba and the

murder of Uriah the Hittite, David found God to be a shelter, a

forgiving Lord, One who still accepted him in spite of his fall (Ps.

51:1-10). The subsequent tragedies in his family life brought David

to his knees in total dependence upon God. He had already experi-

enced a time of trouble, and he knew he could depend upon God.

In what ways does Psalm 91 have meaning for God's children

in every age? Deut.

33:27-29;

Acts 5:17-21; Rev. 2:10.

God is eternally present with His people generation after genera-

tion. He is with us today and will be with us until the end, even

during that "time of trouble, such as never was since there was a

nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be

delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book" (Dan.

12:1). Consider Jesus' promise in Matthew 28:20, "Lo, I am with you

alway, even unto the end of the world."

What testimony can you give of the protecting, guiding hand

of the Lord in your life? How would you explain to an enquirer

that, although God always provides spiritual shelter for His

people, there are times when He allows trial and tragedy to

come upon them?

Monday



March 20

THE PEOPLE WHO CLAIM GOD'S PROMISES (Ps. 91:2).

How would you describe those who "dwell in the secret place

of the most High"? Ps. 91:1, 2, 9, 14, 15.

Those who are extended the protection of the Almighty, who

abide under the shadow of the Most High, are identified in different

ways in many Scripture passages:

The sheep whom He leads in paths of righteousness (Ps. 23:3);

The upright and truthful (Ps. 15:1-5);

The wise virgins of Jesus' parable (Matt. 25:1-13);

The blessed people of the beatitudes (Matt. 5:1-12);

The lightbearers and salty saints (Matt. 5:13-16);

Those who keep His Word (Rev. 3:10).

"Not every one that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom

of heaven" (Matt. 7:21). It is not ritual-ridden worshipers who dwell

in the shadow of the almighty, but godly people who communicate

with the Lord and with their fellow human beings. In times of

suffering, danger, and calamity, they are assured of God's sustaining

presence.

What promises are made to those who abide in Christ? Rev.

3:10-12; Isa. 26:1-9.

There are many "places" that capture our attention and demand

our time and affection. The family room with its VCR and television

set, the theater with its fantasy and allurements; the workplace that

demands so much of us, the stadium filled with powerful athletes—

all of these offer excitement and pleasure. But the secret place of the

Most High is the place of peace and rest, of strength and renewal.

With what pertinent questions did Jeremiah confront back-

slidden Israel? Jer. 12:5. How would you personally answer these

questions?

Not the Christian who occasionally prays and darts in and

out of the "quiet place," but the Christian who "dwells" in

God's presence "abides" under the constant shadow of God's

care. Are you dwelling in His presence and enjoying the secu-

rity that He brings? How do you know?

9()

Tuesday



March 21

THE NATURE OF GOD'S DELIVERANCE (Ps. 91:3-7, 10,13,

16).

From what perils are the people of the Lord delivered in the

time of trouble? Ps. 91:3-7.

The idea of a covering is strongly emphasized in this psalm. The

figure is that of a mother hen sheltering her helpless brood from

attack by a swift flying falcon or predatory owl. The trusting chicks

press close to their mother, alert and watchful but not panicky. What

a figure by which to represent God's care for His children! Contrast

this with the actions of Greek, Roman, or Egyptian mythological

deities. We have a right to expect God, unlike false deities, to protect

us, since He created and redeemed us, and since all things are subject

to Him—all things. Even when, for reasons we do not know, the Lord

chooses to allow His people to suffer, they are assured of His unfail-

ing love and reassuring presence.

What is the attitude of the Lord to those who do not accept His

Lordship? Ps. 91:8; Eze. 33:11.

The righteous people of God actually see the punishment of the

wicked but experience no part in it themselves (Ps. 37:34). The

Israelite slaves saw the calamities that came upon their Egyptian

overlords. They stood in awe-struck silence as the Egyptians per-

ished in the Red Sea (Ex. 14:31).

Will the people of God suffer when the end-time plagues are

being poured out (Revelation 16)? Ps. 91:10; 1 Peter 4:12-14, 19;

5:7-11. Can you give examples of innocent Bible characters who

suffered despite their innocence? What was the purpose of their

suffering?

What special promises does the Lord make to His suffering

people? Ps. 91:9-13, 16.

There have been times when, for reasons we will know only in the

kingdom, God has allowed His people to suffer calamity. Job is a

classic example. But we are assured that, in the great last-day time of

trouble after the close of probation, God will shelter those whom He

has eternally vindicated (Dan. 12:1).

Wednesday



March 22

DANGERS THAT THREATEN THE PEOPLE OF GOD (Ps.

46:1-11).

Consider the dangers that surround God's saints in the last day:

(1) earthquakes, Ps. 46:2, 3; Isa. 24:19-20; (2) floods, Ps. 46:2, 3;

Luke 21:25; (3) rage of the heathen, Ps. 46:6; Rev. 16:14; Rev.

11:18; (4) the breakup of the earth, Ps. 46:6; 2 Peter 3:10, 11; (5)

God's judgments, Ps. 46:8; Rev 16:20, 21; (6) weapons of war, Ps.

46:9; (7) hostile governments, Ps. 46:6, 10; Rev. 11:18.

When God's people are feeling forsaken what is His attitude

toward them? Isa. 49:13-16; Ps. 13:1-6.

J. Wilbur Chapman illustrates God's protecting providence: "Some

years ago the King of Abyssinia took a British subject prisoner. They

carried him to the fortress of Magdala, and in the heights of the

mountains put him in a dungeon, without cause assigned. Britain

demanded his instantaneous release. King Theodore refused, and in

less than ten days ten thousand British soldiers were on shipboard

and sailing down the coast. They marched seven hundred miles

beneath the burning sun, up the mountains to the very dungeon where

the prisoner was held, and there they gave battle. The gates were torn

down. Presently the prisoner was lifted upon their shoulders, carried

down the mountain, and placed upon the white-winged ship which

sped him in safety to his home. It cost the English government

$25,000,000 to release that man. I belong to a better kingdom than

that, and do you suppose that earthly powers will protect their sub-

jects and God will leave me without help?"—G. B. F. Hallock, ed.,

2,500 Best Modern Illustrations

(New York: Harper & Brothers

Publishers, 1935), p. 288.

Identify the manner in which God protected His faithful ones

in the following situations:

Dan. 3:13-28

Dan. 6:11-23

Acts 7:9, 10

Cite an incident in which a servant of God was not delivered.

(For example, Stephen, Acts 7:54-60.) How have you been able

to reconcile yourself to your own suffering or that of a loved

one? Why are God's promises in Psalm 91 still valid?

Thursday



March 23

ANGEL GUARDIANS (Ps. 91:11-16).

Whom has God appointed to protect and "take charge" of His

people? Heb. 1:14; Ps. 103:19-21; 34:7. How large is the company

of guardian angels willing to do God's bidding? Dan. 7:9, 10

(compare Rev. 5:11; 2 Kings 6:11-19).

"A guardian angel is appointed to every follower of Christ. These

heavenly watchers shield the righteous from the power of the wicked

one. This Satan himself recognized when he said: `Doth Job fear God

for nought? Hast not Thou made an hedge about him, and about his

house, and about all that he hath on every side?' (Job 1:9,

10)."—The

Great Controversy,

pp. 512, 513.

Describe the angel ministry in the last-day time of trouble. Ps.

91:11, 12.

"Could men see with heavenly vision, they would behold compa-

nies of angels that excel in strength stationed about those who have

kept the word of Christ's patience. With sympathizing tenderness,

angels have witnessed their distress and have heard their prayers.

They are waiting the word of their Commander to snatch them from

their peril. But they must wait yet a little longer. The people of God

must drink of the cup and be baptized with the baptism. The very

delay, so painful to them, is the best answer to their petitions. As they

endeavor to wait trustingly for the Lord to work they are led to

exercise faith, hope, and patience, which have been too little exer-

cised during their religious experience. Yet for the elect's sake the

time of trouble will be shortened. . . . The end will come more

quickly than men expect. The wheat will be gathered and bound in

sheaves for the garner of God; the tares will be bound as fagots for

the fires of destruction."—The

Great Controversy,

pp. 630, 631.

To whom are we indebted for the comparative peace we now

enjoy? Rev. 7:1-3.

"Men

cannot

discern the sentinel angels restraining the four

winds that they shall not blow until the servants of God are

sealed; but when God shall bid His angels loose the winds, there

will be such a scene of strife as no pen can

picture."—Testimo-

nies,

vol. 6, p. 408.

Friday



March 24

FURTHER STUDY: On the question of suffering, study 1 Peter

4:12-19. On patient preparation to meet Jesus at His return, study

2 Peter 3:1-18. Read "The Time of Trouble" in

The Great Contro-

versy,

pp. 613-634.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:

How can we know the Lord better than we do now?

Is there any limit to the spiritual growth of one who is abiding

in Christ? Will we continue to grow spiritually during the time

of trouble? Does this mean that we will continue to sin and

repent? (See Rev. 3:5; 19:7, 8; 22:11.)

Why must Christians endure great trials and afflictions? Are

they good for us or bad? Can we avoid much of the trouble we

experience? How?

SUMMARY: Psalm 91 presents in 16 verses a positive attribution of

faith and confidence in the protection and care of God over His tried

and faithful people. This faith expressed by David and learned by

Israel's king through much affliction, is to become an expression of

our faith as we near the time of trouble. We too must learn to trust

God more fully and be prepared to live by faith during the disastrous

times ahead. The present state of danger in the world is but a breeze

compared with the storm soon to burst upon men and women every-

where. But we are assured: "When you pass through the waters I will

be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the

flame shall not consume you" (Isa. 43:2, RSV).

100

Global Mission

WAV

Creative Evangelism

James H. Zachary

I stood in the parking lot of the General Santos Seventh-day

Adventist Church in the South Philippines. The roar of motor-

cycle engines in the distance grew louder. As they neared the

church, they slowed down, then one by one they pulled into the

church yard.

These motorcycles, equipped with a side car, served the city

as taxis. Each taxi driver was a member of the Adventist Taxi

Association. The cyclists' leader excitedly told me that with

their own funds they were conducting radio evangelism. One of

their drivers was the "radio evangelist." Another was the an-

nouncer. Their program had been on the air for several months.

Now they were planning evangelistic meetings. All of the

expenses would come from their club budget. No wonder the

General Santos Church was overflowing with members! Satel-

lite churches were planned in other parts of the city.

The children in the primary division were also holding evan-

gelistic meetings. They had targeted 20 non-Adventist parents

in the school most of the students attended.

The children divided topics into three or four sections, and

memorized their sermonettes. Other children prepared special

music, offered prayer, or announced the program. Parents were

invited to come to the meetings.

How touching it was to listen to a 7-year-old child tell the

audience that Jesus is coming soon, and to hear a child's voice

read the Scriptures with power and understanding.

At the time of my visit, the children had reached half of their

goal—ten parents were being prepared for baptism by the pas-

tor.

Members of the General Santos Church have learned some-

thing every Adventist needs to know: Everyone's help is needed

so that Global Mission can complete its

task. What are you doing to help?

James H. Zachary is associate secretary in

the Ministerial Association of the General

Conference.

For Current Newsbreak, Call 1-800-648-5824.



101

Lessons for Second Quarter, 1995

The adult Sabbath School lessons for the second quarter of 1995,

entitled "Entering God's Rest," direct us in study of the book of Joshua.

Lesson 1: Joshua, God's Man

READ FOR THIS WEEK'S STUDY:

Exodus 17:8-14; Numbers

13:1-14:38; 27:12-23.

MEMORY TEXT:

Numbers 27:18.

KEY THOUGHT:

The life of Joshua before the conquest of Canaan

reveals the experience and depth of character that prepared this great

leader of Israel.

OUTLINE:

Joshua the General (Ex. 17:8-14).

Joshua the Prime Minister (Ex. 24:12-14; 33:11; Num. 11:28).

Joshua the Scout (Num. 13:1-14:38; 32:11, 12).

Joshua the Spirit-Filled Leader (Num. 27:12-23).

Joshua the Twice-Commissioned Successor of Moses (Deut. 31:

1-6, 14, 23).

Lesson 2: The Two Joshuas

READ FOR THIS WEEK'S STUDY:

Numbers 13:6; Joshua 1:2-5;

3:7; Deuteronomy 18:15-19; 34:10-12; Hebrews 3 and 4.

MEMORY TEXT:

Hebrews 4:8, 9.

KEY THOUGHT:

Joshua is a type of the New Testament Joshua,

Jesus Christ, who provides victory and rest for spiritual Israel.

OUTLINE:

What's in a Name (Num. 13:16; Matt. 1:21; Heb. 4:8).

The Second Moses (Joshua 1:2-5; 3:7; Deut. 18:15-17; 34:10-12).

The New Joshua (Isa. 49:10).

Entering God's Rest (Hebrews 3, 4; 12:2, 22; Eph. 2:6).

Joshua in Type and Antitype.

Lessons in Braille

The regular Adult Sabbath School Lessons are available free each month in

Braille and 16 2/3 rpm records to blind and physically handicapped persons

who cannot read normal ink print. This includes individuals who, because of

arthritis, multiple sclerosis, paralysis, accident, old age, and so forth, cannot

hold or focus on normal ink-print publications. Contact the Christian Record

Services, Box 6097, Lincoln, NE 68506.

102

Please give generously to the

Southern Asia Division this quarter.

103

4 d

ents

ave you seen the newest edition of

Steps to Christ?

We haven't

changed the original wording. But we have

added something extra for youth.

Sprinkled throughout the chapters you'll

find

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that

include stories illustrating the text.

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US$39.95, Cdn$53.95 per 100

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To order, call your local Adventist Book Cen

toll-free at

1-800-765-6955.

Note: All prices subject to change. Canadian prices do not include 7 percent GS

It's Time for Action!

Would you like your Sabbath School to be aglow with Christ's

love—a dynamic center of spiritual nurture and outreach? Would you

like your Sabbath School members to be genuinely caring for and

supporting one another while also reaching out systematically with

loving concern to inactive and former members? Would you like to see

them involved in united outreach to the community? Would you like to

see them offering greater assistance to the World Mission of the church?

If you would like to see all this, and also experience virtually total

participation in lesson discussion combined with a significant increase

in daily lesson study and daily devotions, then Sabbath School Action

Units in your Sabbath School are the answer.

Many Sabbath Schools have discovered that the small group Sab-

bath School class Action Unit can, if properly conducted, provide the

supporting fellowship and relevant nurture that is so greatly needed in

the church today. It can also provide the caring atmosphere, inspiration,

and training needed to bring our missing members back, so they will

stay and assist us in reaching the world with the Three Angels' Mes-

sages.

When the Action Unit plan is followed, such warm interaction and

mutual trust develop that the Sabbath School class members will not

allow any of their closely knit group to miss Sabbath School without

immediately reaching out to them with concern. Loving class members

immediately plug the "leak in the bucket," as it were, so it can be filled.

What's it like to be a part of an Action Unit? Each week, members

share witnessing experiences and pray for specific individuals. But

beware—it's contagious! When even one active class member shares

what God is doing, others follow suit. And it's not long before everyone's

involved in outreach.

Here's just a sampling of the exciting results that occur when

Sabbath School Action Units are put into action!

The Plan Spreads Like Wildfire

•

Fifty churches, large and small, including the large Sao Paulo,

Brazil, College (SAD), began following the plan within three months

of its introduction.

•

The South Brazil Union Sabbath School Director says, "We are

unable to meet the requests [for starting Action Units]. It is spreading

like fire in the straw."

•

Eighty percent of the 441 churches in Negros Mission, Philippines

(FED), responded to the plan within a six-month period.

•

Ninety percent of the churches of the North Mindahasa Mission,

Indonesia (FED), began active outreach units within six months of

being introduced to the plan.

A Caring Atmosphere Prevails

•

Four non-Adventist husbands in California attended one Sabbath

105

School to find out why their wives had changed so much.

Personal Bible Study Increases

•

A church in Michigan experienced an increase in daily lesson

study from 15 percent studying daily to 90 percent within two months.

Sabbath School Attendance Increases

•

Sabbath School attendance jumped from 20 to 100 in only six

weeks at a church in Oregon.

•

A New Jersey Sabbath School reported an increase in attendance

from 15 (including children) to 70 (excluding children) within two

months.

Inactive Members Return

•

After starting the Action Unit plan, a church in Michigan reported

that 50 families returned to Sabbath School.

•

Four of 31 people who returned to a Sabbath School of 60 in

Michigan stated they were "impressed" to return.

•

Twenty-eight backsliders have returned to a church in India be-

cause of Action Units.

More Outreach

•

"I have more outreach in one small Sabbath School class than we

had in the entire church before," reports one pastor from one of the

more than 30 churches in the Upper Columbia Conference (NAD) now

using Sabbath School Action Units.

•

The number of members giving Bible studies at a church in

Michigan jumped from 3 to 30 in just a few months.

Baptisms Increase

•

Forty-four Moslem families were ready for baptism as a result of

Sabbath School Action Units in one village in the West Indonesia

Union Mission (FhD) only six months after the plan was introduced.

Baptisms tripled in Irian Jaya during the same time period.

•

In one Michigan church (NAD), there were 24 baptisms during the

first four months of the fourth year following the Action Unit plan.

Previously, this church had experienced only one or two baptisms per

year over a ten-year period. After Action Units were initiated, however,

there were 4 baptisms the first year, 16 the second year, and 27 the third

year!

Tithe and Offerings Skyrocket

•

Several churches have reported a 200 percent increase in Sabbath

School offerings, and a 200 percent increase in tithing.

•

One church in India reports a 500 percent increase in tithing!

Would you like to see similar results in your church? Then, Sabbath

School Action Units are the answer! For more information on how to

get the Action Unit plan going in your church, or to subscribe to

ACTION,

an international resource journal for Sabbath School and

Personal Ministries, contact Calvin Smith at the Department of Church

Ministries, General Conference of SDA, 12501 Old Columbia Pike,

Silver Spring, Maryland 20904. Or call, 301-680-6153. It's time to get

into ACTION!

106

Help your Sabbath School children find their

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Introducing the new

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Archeology

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•

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107

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PAKISTAN

New Delhi•



NEPAL

Northeast India

CHINA

Union Section

SIKKIM

Northern India

Union Section

Kathmandu



•



• BHUTAN

'Kanpur

Calcutta.

INDIA



MYANMAR

Bombay

Central India

Union Section

•

Panaji

Attached

Fields

Bay of

Bengal

ANDAMAN

Andama

ISLANDS ,

South

Union

Sea

FGHANISTAN

Mission Projects:

Church buildings in India

Church buildings in new territories

(Andamans, Bhutan, Kashmir, Nepal. Sikkim)

Medical institution, Tamil Nadu

KASHMIR

SRI LANKA

Unions



Churches

Membership

Population

Central India



247

75.792

227.746,903

Northeast India



116

19,927

32.815,391

Northern India



135

23,021

484,469,903

South India



425

79,766

137,776,191

Indian Ocean

Attached Fields



323

20,600,000

Totals Sept 31, 1993



927

198,829

903,408,388

SOUTHERN ASIA DIVI